Lost Memories
by blackrozen21
Summary: When your village got attacked by Captain Kirkland, your parents were killed and you swore to avenge them. But after the incident, you forgot who Arthur, your childhood friend, was and the feelings you share with him. With the BTT, you set sail and seek for revenge as a pirate. Just what are you forgetting? Pirate!EnglandxPirate!Reader and maybe some others. Reader-insert!
1. Lost memories, a new beginning

Chapter 1

Lost memories, new beginning

_**Disclaimer: I will own Hetalia when Russia agrees to marry with Belarus without being blackmailed or anyhting.**_

**AN: Hi guys! This is my very new fic~ I know I shouldn't be starting on a new fic since I'm still working on my Gauken Hetalia... But this is a request from my friend KarkatVantas-CG-TC. I hope you like it! This story will be different because I have my beta editor, who is my best friend and whose name don't want to be mentioned. She is a very good writer I tell ya. So on with the story!**

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"(Name), this is Arthur. Arthur this is (name)." Francis introduced Arthur to me.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Arthur smiled. His voice coated with a heavy British accent.

I examined Arthur from top to toe. He was seven; he had a scruffy blonde hair and a pair of captivating emerald orbs.

"N-nice to meet you…" I was rather shy around new people.

"Kesesese~ you sound so different around new people!" Gilbert teased.

"Sh-shut up!" I punched Gilbert's arm.

"I hope you two will get along well!" Antonio grinned.

Francis, Antonio and Gilbert have been my best friends since I was four. I never had any female friends since they said I was too rough and was like a boy. The trio was the only ones who accepted me for who I was. Slowly, I grew bonds with Arthur. Special bonds. A bond that exceeded the line of friendship. Yes, I fell in love with him. He was rather a mysterious personand was not very comfortable sharing his personal stuff with others. Every day, Arthur would wait for me under the oldest tree in the city.

"Joyeux anniversaire, (name). Stay beautiful." Francis winked at me and handed me a neatly wrapped gift.

"Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Here! My awesome gift for you!" Gilbert shoved a messily wrapped plastic into my hands.

"Feliz cumpleaños, chica!" Antonio smiled and handed me a bag.

"Happy birthday, (name)." Arthur shook my hand.

"Thanks guys! Love you all!" I said happily as I hugged them all.

Today was the day where I turned ten. Among the group, I was the youngest. I was rather disappointed about not getting anything from Arthur, however I was glad he was here. For the rest of the day, we played together and they entertained me in many ways. We spent most of our time in the playground. Without realizing it, the sun was setting. We bid goodbye since we couldn't stay outside late. Arthur waited for the three boys to go and he walked over to me.

"I will be waiting under the tree at 9 AM tomorrow. I have something special for you." Arthur whispered.

I nodded in response and he waved his hand.

-lazy page break-

The rest of the night had been a blur and before I knew it was already legs were shouting to stop and my lungs continued to hurt, begging me for more oxygen, but I didn't care. Arthur told me he had something special for me! The tree was finally at sight. I smiled and ran faster. My smile grew even wider when I saw the familiar figure standing under the tree.

"Arthur!" I called out for him.

"(Name)!" he smiled when he saw me.

I ran to him and crashed onto him making both of us collapse on the base of the tree, the soft grass tickling our bodies. We burst into a fit of laughter. The happiness was completely evident on our faces. I helped him stand up.

"So, what did you get for me?" I said impatiently.

"Close your eyes." Arthur smiled and placed his hands behind his back.

I nodded and closed my eyes. My heart was beating against my ribcage._What could it be? _I could hear Arthur's shoes shift in the grass; I could feel him behind me. His heavy breathing brushed my skin. I heard faint dingles near me. A cold material touched my collarbone.

"You can open now."

I opened my eyes and looked down to find a beautiful golden pendant. I gasped and looked at Arthur. The emotions I was feeling were overwhelming. Happiness, love, a sense of belonging and so many other emotions I could not describe. In a second, I had engulfed him in a hug. My arms perfect wrapped around him, holding him tightly with all I could muster.

"Its so beautiful! Thank you so much Arthur! Where did you get it?" I said, finally letting him go.

"Uh, that was my mother's, but she doesn't want it anymore…."

Arthur stood silent for a while. I noticed his face was completely red.

"Uhm, (name)… I have always… I liked you…" he murmured.

"I love you too!" I squealed and hugged him again.

"Y-you do?"

"Yes I do! Since years ago!" I smiled despite that I was blushing "Arthur…Will you be my husband when I get older?"

Arthur's face grew even redder like one of Antonio's tomatoes "Y-yes…"

"Yay! And I will be your wife!" I held my pinky up. "Promise?"

"Promise." Arthur smiled as our pinkies intertwined.

We sat under the tree and chatted for a little bit. Slowly, I felt drowsy, my eyelids felt heavy and it was getting harder to stay conscious. I laid my head on Arthur's shoulder, using him like a pillow. _Just a little break, _I thought to myself. Hypnos quickly swept me into his realm.

When my eyes flickered open. I felt the grass tickling my cheeks. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. I looked around and saw no one. I could only see the setting sun and the flying birds. _Maybe he went home already. _I stood up and dusted off my (F/C) dress and walked home.

"_Promise."_ I smiled at that thought and skipped along home.

When I got home, my parents were already at the dining table waiting for me. I was an only child and I had such loving parents. It was nine and theyasked me to go to bed. I pulled my blanket higher and set myself on my bed. Slowly, I fell asleep.

I was awoken by the smell of smoke and the feeling of an intense heat creeping up my body. Sweat was beading all over my body and it was getting hard to breathe. I casted the blankets aside and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, before finally walking to the door to peek outside the door. I gasped as I saw the flames eating everything in its sight. I coughed violently and I tried to prevent smoke from getting to my eyes by waving my hand. All I could see was the inferno, continuing to ravage my home and the black smog that seemed to seep through the flames.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out desperately.

I ran downstairs. Thank heavens it was not as bad downstairs as it was on the second floor. I halted when I realized I was stepping on some liquid. I looked down and my knees weakened. Words couldn't come out and my brain seemed to stop working. My hands instinctively covered my mouth in shock. Right in front of my eyes was my father and my mother lying on the ground, both unmoving. Blood pooled underneath them and a bullet embedded in each of their skulls. Tears welled up on my eyes. _This can't be happening. This just can't happen!_

"MOM! DAD!" I cried, shaking them hoping they would wake up.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crack. _The house is going to fall apart! _I looked around for the door but the fire blocked it all. My ten-year-old brain couldn't take all the heat. _The back door! _I stood up and looked at my parents once again _I'm sorry dad… mom… I love you…. _I turned around and grabbed the doorknob. I quickly waved my hand rapidly. The doorknob was burning hot! It was seconds until the house will completely fall apart. _Arthur! Save me! _A big piece of wood crushed me down on the floor.

I moaned in pain as my vision started to blur. Right in front of me was a burnt picture. A picture of Arthur, Francis, Antonio, Gilbert and me. I reached for it and clutched it tightly on my hand. My small body couldn't take the damage any longer.

"(Name)!" all I could see was a blur of a black figure.

_Arthur? _Then my vision just went black.

I awoke to the bustling and all sort of noise. I observed my surrounding just to find people crying, screaming, getting mad and getting crazy.

"(Name)?" I heard a familiar French accent "(Name)? Are you finally awake?"

I turned to the boy beside me… I couldn't remember his name though… He looks familiar. And who are those two boys? The one with curly brown hair and the albino one?

"Who?" I mumbled.

"Y-you don't remember us? We are your los mejores amigos!" the brown haired one said.

"I'm sorry… I don't remember…"

"I'm Antonio, and that's Gilbert and that's Francis!" Antonio pointed out.

Suddenly my head stung. I remember now…

"Toni? Gil? Francis?"

"Ja! See? You remember us!" Gilbert shook me.

"I'm so glad you guys came! What happened here?" I asked looking around.

They stayed silent for a while and looked at each other nodding.

"The pirates invaded the village and took everything…." Francis said sadly.

"Pirates? By the name of?"

They all remained silent.

"Who?" I asked once again "guys, I want to know! THEY KILLED MY PARENTS!"

"…. Kirk… Kirkland…. Captain Kirkland… That's all I know, mon cher…" Francis bit his lip.

"Kikrland…." I made sure the name was implanted in my mind "One day I will find this Kirkland and I will get revenge of my parents…." I clenched my fists.

"It's true… she doesn't remember him…." Gilbert whispered to Francis.

"Oui. I think it's better that way."

"Si, si. Or her heart will break to pieces…"

"I wonder if mom and dad were pretending to be dead…." Tears misted my vision.

"(Name), I know you are going through a rough time now. I promise you that I will take care after you and I will help you with anything." Francis stroked my (H/C) locks.

Antonio and Gilbert nodded.

"Thank you guys… we will be together forever right?"

"Of course." They said in unison.

_Sixteen… when the day I turn sixteen, I will do it._

-another lazy page break-

Five years. Five years I lived with no parents. I only had Francis, Antonio and Gilbert on my side. We worked and lived together. Since that day, the village has gotten three times poorer. We were lacking food, water and supplies for almost everything.

I looked at the engraving on the stone. _(Father's name) (Mother's name) (xxxx-xxxx). Dad, mom… How have you been? Is heaven nice up there? I've been doing fine, I'm lucky to have great friends. Just wait a bit longer I will avenge you both! _I got home and the three were waiting for me.

"Sorry I'm late." I sat down at the dining table.

"No problem, mon cher. I understand that you need to spend some time with your parents." Francis smiled.

"Francis, what do you think is this feeling which hurts deeply in my chest everyday? It's like I have a hole in my heart. I feel empty… like something is missing…" I poked the fish on my plate.

They all stopped eating and looked at each other. Gilbert averted his eyes from me and Antonio quickly went back to eating. Francis bit his lip and thought hard.

"It means…. It means you're just missing someone special in your life." Francis smiled.

"But I have you guys!"

"What I mean is a partner. A lover to be exact." Francis said thoughtfully putting his finger on his chin.

"A lover…. Have I ever… had one?"

"Not that I remembered." Francis shrugged.

"I see…" I took my napkin and wiped my lips "Well, then I will leave you boys to your drinking." I stood up and left the dining room.

"Gute nacht, frau~" Gilbert grinned.

"Are you sure it's better if we don't tell her?" Antonio asked worriedly.

"Of course it is! You want (name)'s heart to be crushed? She already had enough!" Gilbert scowled.

"Oui… I'll tell her one day, when the time is right."

I splashed the freezing cold water on my face. I looked up and stared at my reflection on the mirror as droplets of water dripped down from my chin. _What exactly is the purpose of my life? Who am I actually? I can't remember my past… why is it that it seems to hurt to remember the past? _It was true. Every time I tried to remember my past, my head just ends up hurting so badly to the point I would collapse. Francis told me a lot of times not to remember to hard. They said we used to play together and we were friends since I was very young. But I know there's something else.

At that time, I noticed the golden necklace that has been there around my neck for God knows how long. I held it and examined it carefully. It only had a simple small oval locket, but was still beautiful no less. I didn't know why but I never wanted to throw away the necklace. I didn't even want anyone to touch it.

_Maybe they know something about this… I don't remember buying this from anywhere and I don't remember anyone giving this to me…_ I went downstairs and heard the laughing of the boys. I peeked in and their attentions were all on me. Gilbert's face was already red and I could tell he was starting to slur. Antonio was smiling as wide as ever, while Francis was still normal.

"What is the matter, mon cher?" Francis asked in concern.

"U-um… I was just wondering where I got this necklace from…" I held out the necklace.

Gilbert and Antonio immediately pursed their lips. Francis swallowed hard.

"That's from your… parents." He said looking away.

My eyes widened a little as I held on the pendant tightly. I looked down trying hard not to let a tear trickle down my cheeks. _That's it._

"Guys, can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it chica?" Antonio smiled.

"You will help me in anything yes?" I asked.

"Oui."

"Ja."

"Si."

"Then, I want you guys to help me in killing Kirkland."

They all gave me a surprised look.

"W-wait, are you sure about this? You need like a whole crew!" Gilbert pointed out.

"Exactly. Starting from now on, we will become pirates. We will rule the seven seas and I will kill whoever contains the blood of the Kirklands. I'm doing this for my parents."

Francis swallowed hard and nodded slightly "anything you want…. (Name)."

"I will go wherever you go…" Gilbert mumbled.

"As you wish." Antonio nodded.

After a year of preparation, finally our ships were ready to sail. We already gathered enough crews for a start. We were the ones who were going to sail the seven seas. The ones who will rule the seven seas. But only I, I am the one who _will _kill the one who sails the ship with the name of Kirkland. Because starting from now, I am Captain (Last name), and I will do whatever it takes to eradicate anyone with the blood of a Kirkland, even if it means my life.

**AN: Yay! You are the end of the chapter! SO what do you think? Is it good? The next chapter will come like about next week? I hope you are interested in what happens next. It took my friends and me such a long time to plan the whole thing XD **

**Review please! They make me so happy and make me want to write more! So, leave a review and see you in the next chapter!**


	2. Set sail

Chapter 2

Set Sail

**_Disclaimer: I never owned anything but the plot..._  
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**AN: I'm back from my vacation! I still have heaps of homework though TT_TT Thanks to all the reviews, favs and alerts! I never thought someone would fav already in the first chappie! I'm so happy~ So, here's the second fic, I hope you guys like it. And another special thanks to my dearest beta editor!**

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I looked at my ship as it rocks with the waves. My crews were getting ready for the grand sail. The three boys were also barking orders to their crews to get ready. I put on my hat, which had a red rose on the side.

I was wearing my white ruffled blouse with a pale azure stone pinned on the top. My black tight skirt hugged my thighs perfectly. I extended my left arm to adjust my (color choice) coat and the same with the right soon afterwards. After tapping my boots on the rocky ground making sure it was comfortable. I checked if the laces were all tied up. I made sure my twin swords were secured in their sheaths. I nodded; everything was ready.

I closed my eyes as I mentally prepared myself for what was going to come. I knew being a pirate wouldn't be something easy. I felt a hand on my shoulder and Iglanced sideward to find Francis looking at me with worried eyes.

"Are you sure about this, mon cher?"

"I made a promise, Francis. I'm intending to keep it" I sighed.

"But they never-"

"If you don't want to come along you don't have to." I cut him off.

"Non. Of course I will come with you. I would never leave my precious (Name) alone sailing the seven seas which is filled with endless perils." Francis furrowed his brows.

"We are going to leave in a couple of minutes! Make sure you got everything you need guys!" Antonio shouted out.

I nodded promptly and walked to my ship until my arm was pulled.

"What is it, Gilbert?"

"(Name)…. Look if you do this you cannot go back to what we were before…" Gilbert's crimson eyes looked so serious then.

"I know. I don't need the life I have right now." I shrugged my arm off his grip.

"To be honest, (name), I don't think you are ready yet." Francis sighed.

I furrowed my brows and glared at them.

"I'll say this one more time, if you don't want to come with me, then stay here." I turned on my heels walked away. "Think about it. I told you already, it's your choice. You guys don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll be expecting your answers shortly"

I walked into the crowd leaving the only three people in my life. _What am I doing? _I felt like my mind and heart were two different people. But being the stubborn girl I am, I will not back down. I'm half way there. Everything I have strived for has come down to this. When else will I start if not now?

I looked around for a nearby bar. I needed to get some rum before I leave. God knows how long I'll be gone. When I finally found one, I swung opened the double wooden doors only to see a room full of, to be simply put, aggressive men. I could already tell by their looks. Most of them had tattered clothes, tattoos and scars of all they looked filthy. I ignored all the stares and walked up to the counter.

"Rum please." I said to the bartender; he was buff and there was a notable scar on his left jaw. The eye patch on his right eye is however the most oddest feature of the man.

"What's a lass like you doing here?" he raised his brow and leaned on his elbow.

"None of your business. Just give me my rum." I said keeping my face cool.

"Heh, you talk pretty big for a beautiful lass don't you?" he held up my head by pulling up my chin with his dirty fingers.

"Don't. Touch. Me." I muttered out.

"What was that? You voice is too soft, cutie." He smirked and stroked my cheeks.

I grabbed his hand and roughly slammed it on the table.

"I don't like it when I get filthy. You better give me my rum now." My (E/C) orbs darkened.

"Or what huh?" he scoffed.

"Hmm…let me see. I can always torture you. Hell, maybe I'll make you a slave in my ship."

"You? A pirate?" his eyes widened "That's bullshit! Hey guys! This lassie told me she's a pirate!" he bursts out laughing and the whole crowd followed.

This ticked me off. I quickly grabbed my sword and thrusted it forward. Placing it in the middle of his neck. I applied only a small force; therefore the damage on the skin was minimal. It was merely a small cut. However, if he tested my patience even further, I might as well kill him on the spot.

"Show some respect you filthy creature. A captain does not tolerate being disrespected."

"Okay, your mouth really needs to be sewn up, lass. Despite your talking, you may be perfect for being the maid here." The bartender grabbed my wrist.

_Shit, he's much stronger than I thought. _I tried to break free from his grip but his hold refuses to budge. Another man grabbed me from my waist from behind and I flailed my legs hoping it would free me.

"H-hey! L-let her go!" I heard a soft sound behind the man who was grabbing me.

The man turned back and, of course, made me turn back. In front of me was a man with wavy and pretty long dirty blonde hair. He had this weird curl poking out just like the Vargas twins, Feliciano and Lovino who were part of Gilbert and Antonio'screw. His beautiful sapphire eyes had a hint of violet in it and were covered with his glasses. He wore a white loose blouse with a leather vest and long leather pants, which looked very clean. He was trembling in fear but he had the courage to stand up for me. Weird guy. Just getting himself into trouble like that.

"You better stay out of this. The boss wants the lass so he will get her." The man growled.

"N-no! L-let her go o-or I-I will…." Seriously? Does he even know he was stuttering?

"Get out. It's not safe. I can handle this-" my mouth was covered by the man.

"B-but a girl like you can't possibly can!"

"Shut up. If you don't step out now, I will make you." The man threatened.

"I-I'm not afraid of you!"

I mentally face palmed and rolled my eyes. I took the opportunity to slide my foot across the man's feet making him lose his balance and fall down. I flipped my hair over my shoulder.

"See? Handled." I put my hand on my waist.

The blonde opened his mouth but before he could say anything, someone grabbed my right foot and pulled me down causing me to fall. The man pinned me on the floor and locked me by putting his knees on mine. The heavy pressure paralyzed me.

"Bitch, you are going to get it this time." He held up his fist.

I turned my head and shut my eyes bracing for the punch which I knew would hurt since, judging by the looks, he was so strong. He was the biggest one in the bar! _Francis was right…. _I heard a loud bash but surprisingly I'm not in pain? I slowly opened my eyes and saw the man right beside my knocked out. I looked around and everyone was silent, some with their mouths agape.

"Are you alright?" the blonde stretched out his hand.

"I'm fine, thank you." I got up myself and dusted my skirt and fixed my hat.

"Y-you're pretty string for a g-girl, eh?" he smiled.

Suddenly, his fist thrusted towards my face and in instinct, I shut my eyes close. When I open my eyes, what I saw was the bright, sapphire-violet eyes darkened. He seemed... different. His face was full of anger and they were so vengeful. My attention then turned towards the bartender who was knocked out lying over the bigger man.

"But I see you are not always aware aren't you?" his voice was soft and his face turned calm again.

"T-thank you." I blinked a few times confused.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I have not introduced myself! I'm Matthew, Matthew Williams." he stretched out his hand, which I guess, was for a handshake.

"(Name), (Full name)." I took his hand and shook it once.

"So, you are a pirate, eh?"

I nodded. Before he could say anything else, I shut him up and took a bottle of rum from the shelf behind the counter.

"I want to get out of this disgusting place."

"S-sure..." he followed me.

"Tell me Matthew; do you have an aim in life?" I asked.

He blinked a few times and tilted his head.

"Of course I do. Doesn't everyone have one?"

"Then, tell me, do you have a mission you want to accomplish?"

He stood silent for a while and finally spoke.

"I do. I want to... I want to meet a certain man... the man who left me for dead. He left me alone even though he knew my parents were long gone. He left me with nothing." he clenched his fists to balls.

"Do you... wish to kill this man you are talking about?" his eyes widened hearing this.

"I... I-I don't know." he looked down.

"I offer you a deal, Matthew. You serve under me and I will help you find this man you are looking for."

"S-serve under you? A-and how would you help me?"

"I am Captain (last name). I will be sailing the seven seas."

"And serve you how?"

"I will be needing your strength and courage. I see you have the guts and I don't have a first mate yet. And I know you will fit the job perfectly. So what do you say, Matthew Williams? Do we get ourselves a deal?" I held out my right hand.

Matthew stood there looking at my hand for minutes. By the look on his face, I knew he was thinking very thoroughly about the offer.

"Why so much thought, Matthew? Do you have family and friends you wish not to leave? Or perhaps I'm wrong to think you are a very courageous man? Maybe you fear death?" I mused.

_"You're such a scradey cat Mattie!" "You really suck don't you?" "I thought my brother would be a hero like me!" "I'm so disappointed in you, dude!" "I bet you can't stay alive for a day if left alone!" "Won't mom and dad be ashamed knowing you are like this?" "You're worthless. A complete waste of space!" _the voice was echoing inside Matthew's head.

He slapped his hand against mine looking right into my (E/C) orbs with his sapphire-violet ones.

"Deal. I will serve under you and I will do whatever it takes to protect you." Matthew shook my hand '_I will show him I'm capable of something.'_

I nodded and walked back to the port. Francis, Gilbert and Antonio were waiting for me already.

"What took you so long, mi amiga?" Antonio frowned.

"I just had some business and I found my first mate."

The three looked at Matthew with wide eyes. Francis was the one who looked most surprise. I looked back to Matthew only to find a surprised Matthew.

"M-Mathieu? Is that... you?" Francis pointed at Matthew with shaky arms.

"F-Francis?" Matthew managed to speak out.

"Oh, mon petite Mathieu! You've grown so much!" Francis hugged Matthew.

Matthew just stayed silent, tears forming on his eyes.

_"_I missed you so much, big brother." Matthew finally hugged Francis back.

"I missed you too, Mathieu."

"Why am I the only one who seems not to know him for a long time?" I folded my arms.

"Because he never told you about him. Even Antonio and I only saw him a few times. One day, they just stopped seeing each other again." Gilbert shrugged.

"Whatever. Come on guys, we need to set sail now. Matthew, enough you are coming to the ship with me."

We all went to our respective ships and stood in front of the steering wheel. I looked at the endless sea and pulled my hat down a little making sure it won't fly with the wind later. I looked to my right asking for a signal from Gilbert and Francis. They both nodded. I looked ay my left to receive a nod from Antonio. I nodded and looked forward.

"Lift the anchor!" I yelled.

Sooner later, the ships started to move along with the tide. And there begins my new life as a pirate.

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Somewhere in the seven seas, a blonde Brit kept his sword planted menacingly on the Austrian. His emerald orbs were glinting dangerously. His scruffy blonde hair and long red coat were blown by the wind. Half of the ship was on fire and the deck was covered with dead bodies. Roderich Edelstein had just been defeated by a far stronger pirate than he ever was. The one who defeated him held a great title. It was none other than the ruler of the seven seas, Arthur Kirkland.

"We've checked the whole ship, Artie! Nothing!"

"Tsk, the bloody git was nothing but a waste of time ain't he?" He clicked his tongue in distaste. "Did you check everything in his personal cabin, Alfred? And don't call me that! Call me Captain Kirkland!"

"The hero can call anyone whatever he wants! And I'll go check again!" Alfred gave a salute and ran off.

"So, Edelstein, care to tell me where you kept your little treasure?"

"I told you its not here. It's somewhere safe where no one can find it!" Roderich growled.

"Is it this one, Artie?" Alfred came out holding out a glass bottle with a rolled paper inside it and it was closed with a cork.

"Good job, Alfred." Arthur smirked "Thank you for the prize. Looks like my time is worth a little."

"Impossible! I hid it perfectly in the-"

"The piano isn't such a good place ya know?" Alfred swung the bottle back andfort.

"Let's leave this bloody place. This ship has turned into an unruly sight."

With that, Arthur went back to his ship along with all his remaining crews. He set the bottle on his table. After examining it for a while, he opened the cork and sawwhat was written in the small parchment of paper.

"This is it!" Arthur said, a grin forming from his lips.

"How many more?" Alfred asked.

"That will remain as a bloody mystery I tell ya." Arthur rolled the paper and stuffed it back inside the bottle.

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**AN: Yay! Pirate!England has come! I hope you guys don't mind Mattie being your first mate... I just realized that in this fic, I would be much more serious than I am in my other fics... I'm not really used to it but I'll try. And besides, I have my beta editor don't I? I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'll see you in the next one~ I would be so happy to see reviews :D**

**VongolaViv: Really you like it? I'm so glad you like it ^^ here's teh update! Sorry it took a long time though...**

**MegumiTwiffacat: I love pirates! But I never read One Piece so yeah... **

**Catherine: I don;t know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...**

**Guest: Dank! Glad you like it~**

**angelofpasta: You think so? I worked hard on the plot! I really do hope it turns to a good story! **

**I hope I can update this fic soon! I enjoy every bit of writing this!**


	3. Fun duel

Chapter 3

Fun duel

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia and I hope I will... in my dreams :D**_

**AN: OMG! I'm so sorry for the super late update! I was busy with AFA last week cuz' my editor dragged me there... yeaa that's a good reason... but at least I got a fanbook! Well I should just shut up and get on with the story. This chapter will be more of the fun rather than actions though...**

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I stood on the deck looking at the plain vast sea. _Now what? _I closed my eyes and felt the breeze brushing against my skin, thinking about how I would find Kirkland. We didn't have such advanced technology. All I can rely on was a map and compass. How can I know his whereabouts? Magic? Luck?

"Captain?"

"What is it Matthew?" I said, keeping my eyes closed.

"U-um, well I just thought y-you l-looked lonely so, maybe i-it would be a g-good time to know you b-better…." Matthew said, his voice barely audible.

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Me? Lonely?" I chuckled dryly. "I'm always lonely."

"B-but you have your three best friends…"

"But my heart feels empty. Like someone took something inside it and left it empty." I brushed my hair off my forehead "Rather than wasting your time talking with me, go and check on the crew."

"A-aye, Captain!" Matthew saluted to me and ran off.

I watched him ran down to the crew cabin I turned on my heels and strode off to the kitchen since my throat was begging me for a drink, preferably ale or rum. 16 or not, it wasn't as if someone actually cared. I opened the door and plopped down on a stool in the mini bar. It was usually for the crew or special occasions when Francis Antonio and Gilbert came over.

"What would you like, Captain?" Lili, the cook and the bartender smiled at me sweetly.

"A glass of ale would be lovely." I smiled faintly.

Lili's nodded promptly and took a bottle of ale, pouring the liquid to a big glass. I took it and chugged down. The kitchen was rowdy, and looks like it will always be that way. They said the kitchen was the place they celebrated. Well, it would be quite a nice place to celebrate the death of Kirkland.

I was enjoying my glass of ale until something caught my ear's attention. I paused and tried to hear it more clearly.

"Yeah, I heard he already got almost all the pieces!" one of my crews said to the other.

"If he gets hold of that, he will be the king of the seas, no-"

"Who?" I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

The both men looked flab staggered and froze in fear. I continued to glare at them waiting for their answer.

"So?" I raised my brows.

"I-it's Kirkland, Captain." One of them said, fidgeting while avoiding eye contact with me.

My eyes widened a little when I heard the word 'Kirkland'. That word was like nails on a chalkboard. Hearing it makes me sick. I dropped my empty glass harshly on the counter on the table and walked to their table.

"Is he around here?" I said with a calm tone.

"I-I don't know, w-we never know his whereabouts! He keeps himself hidden!"

"What else do you know about him?" I demanded.

"N-nothing!"

"And what is the 'thing' he can get hold of?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"It's a treasure! The greatest treasure in the world!"

"And where can I get this treasure?"

"I heard that there are clues that can lead you to it. But they're hidden very well.

"Anything else?"

"I'm afraid no, Captain. I'm truly sorry."

Seeing there was nothing left I could get out of him, I spun my heel and strode out of the bar to find Matthew.

"Matthew!" I called out.

"Y-yes, Captain!" he ran over to me and saluted.

"Invite Francis, Antonio and Gilbert over. At once! Tell them this is urgent!" I ordered.

"Yes, Captain!" he ran off.

I went to my cabin and waited for the three boys. When I heard the knock I shouted 'come in' and the three went in. Antonio, being the last to come in, closed the door.

"What's so urgent?" Gilbert asked obviously looking annoyed that I probably disturbed his nap.

"Kirkland is around."

"How do you know this?" Gilbert questioned quirking his brows.

"Just heard." I said simply.

"Listening to rumours are we?" Francis leaned against my desk "So, what's the plan?"

"Do nothing."

"Que? Nothing?" Antonio looked confused.

"Yes. Nothing. As you can see we just started out journey and look at us. We are still so weak." As much as I despised the word 'weak' but that was the best word that explained my current position.

"Then why did you say this is urgent again?" Gilbert raised his brows.

"I also got some information about the greatest treasure. And I want it. I'm gonna snatch it before Kirkland can even see it."

"Si! I know a little about that!" Antonio beamed "There are clues that lead to the location of the treasure right?"

"Yes. And I also heard that Kirkland has got hold with a lot of them."

"So, let's get it before he does?" Gilbert smirked.

I looked at him and nodded once.

"Its settled then. Lets get going then!" Antonio grinned.

"Wait, where are we supposed to search first?" Francis asked looking at me.

"We'll go to the nearest port and ask around."

"That will be five days away." Antonio looked at my map.

"We'll stop by in five days. For the mean time, train, rest, prepare and enjoy your time." I dismissed them.

They went out and I sat back on my chair, taking a deep breath. It's going to start soon. My gut told me that things are going to be very interesting.

Antonio and Gilbert were at Francis' ship drinking.

"I missed the days where she used to be so cheerful…" Antonio sighed and he fiddled with the glass of wine.

"Ja, she's so different now…" Gilbert commented.

"Well, I'm sure she will be back to what she is soon." Francis smiled and took a sip of his wine.

"I have not seen her beautiful smile for years Francis." Gilbert hissed.

"Si! I missed those times when we had fun together!"

"Don't worry. I will make her smile again. She's just having a rough time now."

"Since that day, she just became more or less cold hearted! Its always a hard time for her isn't it?" Gilbert flailed his arms in the air.

"Come on, Gil, think about it! What would you feel if a pirate killed your brother? And you have no one else?" Francis asked rhetorically.

Gilbert kept quite for a while until he narrowed his eyes at the Frenchman and huffed.

"I would want revenge…"

"See? That's what she wants too. When this is over I'm sure she will go back to what she is before."

"But, don't you know who she wants to kill?" Antonio tilted his head.

"Oui, of course I know. And I also cannot forgive him for leaving her just like that." Francis' sapphire eyes turned dark blue.

* * *

"_(Name)! Is she okay?" I rushed to Arthur who was carrying (name), her body limp._

"_She's alright…." Arthur laid her down on the ground._

_Antonio and Gilbert ran to her and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and her body was covered with cuts __and soot from the fire__. I __brushed away __some hair __on__ her face as I tried to withhold my tears. It was the first time I saw (name) hurt like that._

"_Take care of her, frog." I heard Arthur said that._

"_What do you mean take care of her? Where are you going?" I stood up and scowled at him._

"_I have to leave. I can't __stay__ with her any longer…" Arthur simply said._

"_You can't leave her! She needs all of us! She has no one anymore! And you jolly know she loves you!" I barked at him._

"_Good bye, Francis." He turned on his heels and started to walk away._

"_COME BACK HERE!" I shouted as I saw his back fading slowly._

"_Where is he going?" Antonio asked looking at where Arthur went._

"_Doesn't matter. We are responsible for (name) now… I'm going to take care of her."_

"_Nein! We all are!" Gilbert grinned as he carried (name)._

"_Oui, because she's is our precious jewel." I smiled and stroked her cheeks._

_She started to stir up as her eyes slowly flicker open._

"_Who?"_

* * *

Francis was on the verge of breaking his wine glass. Every time he remembered it, he always got absolutely furious. He couldn't believe that Arthur would leave her like that especially when they share the same feelings.

"You're not the only one who can't forgive him, amigo. I will not tolerate anyone who upsets (name)." Antonio frowned, his forest green eyes darkening.

"Ja, that ficker is going to pay." Gilbert spat "I'm going back." He stood up and left.

Antonio stood up and said his goodbye, then left. Francis finished his glass of wine and sighed burying his face with his hand. All he wanted now was to see the smile he had not seen for so long.

Gilbert was in his cabin, drinking beer with his brother, Ludwig, who was also his first mate, and Feliciano his cook and one of his close friends.

"Bruder, you look really… upset." Ludwig struggled to find the word that matched Gilbert's current expression.

"Nein, I'm just sad."

"That's the same…" Ludwig sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Ve~ is this about (name)?" Feliciano tilted his head.

"Ja, how did you know?"

"You seem to talk about her so much and I guess you really care about her!" Feliciano chirped.

"I just want her to be… happy." Gilbert shrugged taking a swig of his beer.

"Why don't you make her?" Ludwig raised a brow drinking his beer.

Gilbert blinked and smirked "You know West, you give some awesome ideas sometimes!" Gilbert put on his coat and went out.

"Ja… sometimes…." Ludwig rolled his eyes as he went outside with the Italian following him behind.

Gilbert signaled the crew in my ship that he wanted to go there. Ludwig connected the two boats using the small wooden bridge. Gilbert jumped down my ship and strode to my cabin, knocking it repeatedly.

I opened the door and looked at him.

"Lets have a battle! Lets see how awesome you are with your swords!" he declared and the crew members all had their eyes widened and started to whisper to each other as they knew I was good at sword fighting.

Ludwig practically facepalmed; regretting having come up with the idea that could potentially cause chaos in the first place while Feliciano was clapping his hands excitedly. I thought for a while and closed the door leaving Gilbert in shock. I grabbed my sword and stepped out.

"I thought you didn't want to."

"I have nothing better to do in the mean time so might well as entertain myself with a little training." I walked over the deck and faced him.

"Wunderbar. May the awesome one wins." Gilbert smirked and positioned himself while unsheathing his sword.

I prepared and unsheathed my swords. The crew members that were watching formed a circle around us. Gilbert charged first and the both steel clashed together, our swords pushing forward to gain dominance. My legs buckled slightly as Gilbert increased more force on his side. Seeing that it was a losing battle, I jumped back. I charged aiming at his side but he blocked it well. For minutes our movements competed with each other. He may be stronger but I was faster. Finally, I maneuvered my swords and trapped his sword between each blade. I smirked and twisted both swords, sending his sword flying. I could hear a clatter on the wooden floor. My sword pointed to the nap of his neck as I panted slightly due to the recent fight. It had been a while since I fought like that.

"You are very awesome, (name). As always." Gilbert said between breaths, smirking.

"Thank you." I removed the sword away and brushed off my now wet hair off my forehead.

"Muy Buena, (name)!" Antonio and Francis appeared between the crowd.

"Since when did you guys get here?" Gilbert wiped his sweat.

"Since Matthieu came to me and said that there was a battle here." Francis smiled "So, already beaten aren't you, Gil?" Francis cackled.

"Shut up! I was going easy on her."

"Yeah? Going so easy that you're out of breath now?" Antonio snickered.

Gilbert pouted and his cheeks turned pink as everyone laughed.

"She's really good okay!" he huffed and stood up.

"You just need more training and stop underestimating your opponent." I sighed.

"Well, senorita, would you care for another round?" Antonio curtsied.

"That would be nice. I need more practice after all." I held up my sword.

"Lovi~ please get my axe~"

"Don't call me that your bastard!" Lovino brought him his axe and threw it to Antonio, which heeasily caught.

"You and your choice of weapon… I will never understand you, Toni…" Gilbert shook his head. Who would prefer to fight with a heavy axe when you could use a light sword or convenient gun?

"Its really handy and nice to swing!" Antonio grinned, as he got ready.

This time, I charged first but I had to duck as he swung his gigantic axe across. I aimed for his leg but he disappeared in a second. _Shit! He's fast! _I tried to turn around but Antonio pinned me down on the floor, his axe right in front of my face as I tried to push it off with my sword.

"Toni! Go easy on her!" Francis shouted out.

"Si! Si! Of course I will~"

I managed to push him off me and I quickly got on my legs again. He swung his axe again making it hard to get nearer to him. How could he move so fast with that heavy thing? Only God knows. Antonio swiped his leg across mine making me fall. He placed the sharp edge of his axe gently on my neck as I gasped for air.

"What the? How can Toni have an easy win?" Gilbert was bemused.

"She was already tired with yours, Gil." Francis help me up "I would like to battle with you but you look worn out, mon cher. Perhaps next time, oui?"

"Such a disgrace…" I dusted off my skirt and tucked a lock of my (H/C) behind my ear looking down.

"No! You did wonderful senorita!" Antonio smiled up to the point that his pearly teeth were showing.

A faint smile appeared on my face and I chuckled a little as the three boys' widened their eyes.

"Thank you…"

"We did it!" Gilbert punched his fist up in the air.

I blinked in confusion and sighed. _I wish I could be that happy again..._

* * *

**AN: Yay! Reader-tan smiled again! So what do you guys think? Is this chapter boring? I hope not~ please leave me a review and to those who hasn't put it on alert or fav, do it if you like this! I promise you things will get exciting! For me at least...**

**xxxSpain'sPocoTomatoxxx: I'm sorry for the wait ;_; i never have time on weekdays and I was busy last weekend... and i'm really happy you like the story!**

**The Witch Alchemist: Yeah, Mattie is strong~ **

**AzamiBlossom: Well, he is still alive. Just lost a battle from Kirkland. That all. **

**yey(guest): Thankies~**

**Megumi Twiffacat: Yay! you're fine with Mattie~ **

**And thank you all for reading! See you guys real soon and of course special thanks for my awesome beta editor! Stay awesome guys~**


	4. The first piece

Chapter 4

The first piece

_**Disclaimer: Apparently, I'm not awesome enough to own Hetalia... but I do own this plot :D**_

**AN: Hallo! Here's my weekly update~ So! This chapter will be interesting... why you say? Because Iggy has made his appearance! And guess what? Reader-tan met him~ Things are going to much more ineteresting starting from now on! Read to find out!**

* * *

Five days passed by pretty quickly. Everyday, I would train with them, trying my best to exceed my limits and become even stronger. I stood on the deck looking far in front. Finally, I could see the port already. I turned on my heels and put on my hat.

"Get ready!" I shouted as the crews prepared to port.

"C-captain, I got some information about the village… they have been robbed by pirates and judging from the reports, they aren't hostile, but I'm afraid are rather cautious…" Matthew said quietly.

I nodded and took off my hat and shoved it to him. I took off my sword and handed it to him.

"I don't want to cause a scene or make them think we are a threat."

When we got near the port, the anchor was dropped down. Matthew set the small wooden bridge. I walked down to the land and looked around. Soon, the three also set their feet on the land. I told them about the village and they took off their coats, hats and weapons handing them to their first mates.

"I miss the land so much!" Gilbert stretched.

"It's just been five days…" Antonio sighed.

"Come on, let's go." I gestured them to follow me "Matthew please find us an inn to stay at. I have a feeling we may be staying here for a while…."

"A-aye, captain!" Matthew nodded and quickly ran away along side with Ludwig and Lovino.

The small village seemed peaceful. Way better than mine at least. But it seemed to be quiet…too quiet. And that was when I realized people were actually hiding and avoiding us. They couldn't be blamed. Pirates indeed are one of the most cruelest and disgusting people. I would be calling myself a hypocrite if I didn't say I was cruel sometimes. Only some pirates were decent, but that does not make much different. Pirates were all labeled the same in this world; it matters not if you are black or white, typical stereotyping was bound to happen. As long as you make the choice to be a pirate, you will be deemed the villain. I didn't care much about this; all that matters was that I achieve my goal.

The first place I decided to go was the bar since Gilbert was complaining about how thirsty he was despite the fact that he drank his favorite German beer every three hours or so. When the four of us entered the bar, we immediately walked over the counter whilst ignoring the looks people were giving us. The three ordered their drinks. The bartender quickly nodded and rushed to fix them their drinks.

"Don't you want anything, mon cher?" Francis asked sipping his wine.

"I don't feel like drinking." I took a look around and stood up "I'll just go and get some information I guess."

I spotted a lanky looking man, who was sitting alone and shaking when he realized I was looking at him. I walked over to him and sat in front of him.

"Excuse-" I started but was cut off.

"I-I'm sorry! Please I have nothing!" he quickly said and ran away.

I sighed and got up. _I need someone who is at least brave __enough to have a simple conversation with me…. _I scanned the whole place. No one. And that was when I decided to go out and look for people.

When I swung the double doors open I sighed and started to walk. _I guess this is going to be harder than I thought…_Suddenly I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, excuse me…" I said quietly, stepping back a little.

"Don't worry about that, poppet." Said a heavily British accented voice.

I looked up to see a handsome man with amazing emerald eyes and scruffy blonde hair. Although he had unusually thick brows… aside from that, he was wearing a rather loose white blouse with ruffles which looked like it had been with him for years covered with a maroon vest and leather black pants with boots, and also black leather gloves. _He's not scared?_

"Are you not going to run away?" I asked bluntly.

He chuckled and shook his head "Why would I run away from a beautiful lass like you?"

I ignored at the comment and thought for a while. _I guess I could give a try._

"Would you mind getting a drink with me?" I asked flatly.

"Why that would be wonderful, love!" He smiled "I was about to get one myself. Let me take you to place where they serve good drinks!"

I followed him to a bar. Thank God it was not the one where the three boys were at currently. We sat in the corner but something was odd. Why was everyone still staring at us? Do rumours spread that quickly? I decided to shrug it off and ordered a drink.

"So what brings a poppet like you here?" He asked as he sipped his rum.

"I'm a traveler." I took a swig of my ale.

"Oh, my apologies! It seems I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is… Lance."

"Cecilia… nice to meet you." I lied since I thought it was best to keep my true identity hidden.

"Pleasure to meet you too."

I licked my dry lips and tapped my finger on the wooden table. _This guy looks so calm…_

"I was wondering why this village was so… quiet." I started.

He looked at me and smirked slightly then took a swig of his rum.

"I heard this place has been raided by those filthy pirates. I guess they are just being cautious around visitors… You can't blame them, the pirates really swept this place clean."

"I see… well rumours say that pirates are pursuing some kind of treasure right now. I'm pretty curious what the treasure is exactly."

"Ah~ that is true, love. Really up to date aren't you? They said it was worth the lives of a whole country. Just the greatest treasure on the surface of earth, don't you think? Anyone who gets a hold of that would be king." He hummed and smiled coyly "Are you interested in it?"

"No. Just curious that's all. So they have maps for the location of the treasure?"

"The greatest treasure can't possibly be obtained with a simple map, love. Pirates collect the pieces of the clues that will lead them there."

"And are all these… clues taken already?"

"That, I don't know, poppet. I am nothing but a mere villager here." He shrugged "What I know is that the clues are scattered all over the whole earth."

And after that the conversation died. After we finished our drinks, he stood up and curtsied.

"I have some other business to attend. I hope you will excuse me, it was a pleasure drinking with you."

"Same with you." I stood up as well and fixed my blouse.

He turned around and started to walk away until he stopped and turned his head a little.

"Oh and, love, I heard there are pirates here. Please do be careful." He waved his hand and walked away.

I immediately went to the bar the three boys were to get them out of there before Gilbert gets drunk. When I went inside, I spotted the three boys still there on the same seat but this time with a girl.

"Lets go." I said, crossing my arms.

"Eh? But we were having fun~" Gilbert whined.

"I don't care." I shot a glare at him and dragged him out with the other two following us.

I threw Gilbert out and proceeded out of the bar. Matthew ran to me, panting as he was doing so.

"I-I have found an inn for you four!" he said between breaths.

"Great, let's get some rest for today." Francis suggested.

I hummed in agreement and we went to the inn with Matthew leading us there. I got a room for myself while the other three were in one room. The room was decent; pretty comfortable bed, small couch, working table and good lights. I noticed my stuff were all there already. I made a mental note to thank Matthew later. For now, it was best for some rest.

~Arthur's POV~

Well that was a pretty and lovely lass. I don't know but something about her… For a moment there, I thought she was (Name) since she somehow resembled her a little. But it was impossible. (Name) had no such empty and dull eyes. Moreover she was not that….emotionless. Yes, I miss (Name), even as the treacherous pirate I am; I still have feelings for her. Even though I hadn't seen her in the past six years. I hope those three gits are taking good care of her.

_Now where is that wanker…_I looked around to search for Alfred. I spotted him walking carrying a lot of stuff. I sighed and rubbed my temples. I walked over to him and called for him.

"I told you, buy what you need." I examined at what he was carrying "and this more than what you need."

"No way! I need all of this!" he frowned.

"Whatever. But you did keep the clue safely, right?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Course it is! A hero will always keep their valuables safe!" he grinned widely.

I rolled my eyes and strode off to my inn. My ship was in some repair due to the damage that little priss made.

~Your POV~

I was lying on the bed, closing my eyes when I heard a knock on the door. I swung my legs to the side and set my feet on the ground. I opened the door and saw Gilbert in front of the door with his little yellow bird, which he had for years. I don't even know why he named it Gilbird. I was tempted to shut the door again but who knows, maybe it was important? No, it better be important.

"What is it, Gilbert? This better be worth it because you have disturbed my nap." I put my hands on my waist.

"Kesesese~ don't worry! I'm here with some awesome news!" He smirked "When I was getting some beer, I saw another ship there. And definitely a pirate's!"

"A pirate's?" I furrowed my brows "and did you see the captain?"

"Nein. I only saw the working crews. Nothing else." He shrugged as Gilbird chirped.

"Interesting…. Lets go to your room. I would like to talk to them too."

"Ja, whatever you say, boss." He scoffed and led me to his room.

"Why bonjour, (name)! What a lovely surprise that you visit us here~" Francis smiled as he gestured me to sit beside him on the couch, which I did "Have you something to say to us?'

"Yes. I got some information about the treasure. Whatever it is, almost every human being is after it. And Antonio was right; there were some clues that lead us to the location of the treasure. And also Gilbert said there was some other pirate loitering around here…"

"Is that so, Gil? Well, and who might the captain be?" Francis raised a brow looking at Gilbert.

"He never saw the captain… anyways, I was thinking of sneaking inside it." I said thoughtfully.

"Isn't that a little too risky, mi amiga?" Antonio quirked his brows and munched on a tomato.

"If the captain's not there why not?" I tilted my head "That way, it would be much easier to gain access to the captain's cabin."

"Ja, she's right! There were not many crews up on the deck when I saw it." Gilbert nodded.

"Alright. We can go at midnight." Francis huffed.

"Oh, don't worry. I can assign Matthew. He's a good spy, trust me."

"He is? But he doesn't look like a good spy…" Gilbert scoffed.

"Then, if you realized that he's right behind me and has been following us you can say he is not." I pointed at Matthew who sweatdropped.

"Woah! What the hell?! Since when was he there?!" Gilbert jumped back.

"Since you three came here?" Francis said shaking his head.

"I didn't notice him too…" Antonio blinked.

"I have always been like this…" Matthew said quietly.

"So can you do it?" I looked up and looked at him.

"I-if they won't notice me, I'm sure it would be very easy." He smiled.

"Good. I want you to see if you can find any of these 'clues' about the treasure."

~Matthew's POV~

When the clock strikes midnight, I quickly made my way to the ship captain Beilschmidt... Or rather, I'll just call him Gilbert, was talking about. The ship was bigger compared to the captain's ship. I took a deep breath and carefully stepped on the bridge connecting to the ship, making sure I wouldn't make any of those creaking noises.

When I finally reached the deck I sighed in relief and looked around. No one was around. Everyone was probably sleeping. The ship was somehow eerily silent, damaged and covered with little holes and cracks here and there. I slowly made my way o the Captain's cabin and put my hand on the doorknob. I mentally prayed that it wouldn't be locked. Nope, no luck. It was locked.

I scrambled through my pocket and took out a bobby pin that captain gave to me incase something like this happens. I inserted the pin into the keyhole and began to unlock it with the pin. It took me quite a long time, as I was not very experienced with the art of lock picking. When I was finally able to turn the knob I smiled and opened the door slightly. I peeked inside, as my heart was thumping loud.

When I saw no one inside I slowly stepped in and closed the door with least noise. I took a look around the room. It looked really majestic and it was big. I began searching the whole place but found nothing. I stood in the middle of the room thinking where would the clue be. _Okay, Matthew… think. Where would you put an important thing?_I looked down on the carpet I was standing at and crouched down lifting it up. Nope. I took a look under the bed. Still nothing. Suddenly, a flash of my memory came.

"_Why the hell is this picture here?!" I shouted as I held up a picture of me with a dress, which I found between the pages of my brother's favourite storybook._

"_Whoops. How'd you found it?" he asked pouting._

"_I was reading this until I saw it!" I huffed._

I glanced over the bookshelf and walked over to it. _Guess this is my last resort…._I flipped through all the pages of each book. At about the third book I flipped through, a piece of paper fell out. I bent over and picked it up. It looked old and the sides were ripped. I skimmed through it and something made my eyes go wide._This must be it!_I stuffed it into my pocket and sneaked out again.

As Matthew escaped from the ship, Arthur Kirkland was sitting in his inn room with his first mate going through the ship's log.

"Alfred, did you really hide the one from Edelstein in a safe spot?" Arthur asked, "Because I have not looked at it properly."

"Yeah, yeah I did okay? Geez, calm down! Its not like anyone is stupid enough to sneak in the ship!" Alfred plopped down the couch and opened a book, deciding he was much too lazy to continue with his task.

"True… and it better be…"

He was very much wrong though he did not know it yet.

* * *

**AN: Look who stole from Iggy's ship~ see? Being invisible is sometimes handy! They met, but they don't know each other! How are things going to be? Especially when Arthur finds out that his newest clue is now in the hands of the reader! Looks like the battle is about to begin soon... **

**The Witch Alchemist: You should thanks my editor, she helped me in that c:**

**Nanami Of Falling Snow: Well, it does have alot of feelings and angst and stuff... but is it really lovely?**

**AzamiBlossom: I try my best to be as awesome as I can! **

**So, you guys excited for the next chappie? I'll see you guys in teh next one! Don't forget to review :D**


	5. The beginning of it all

Chapter 5

The beginning of it all

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**_

**AN: Hiya~ I'm back with a new chappie! I'm in a hurry right now so might well as leave you guys to read! Enjoy~**

* * *

I was in my sleeping wear, about to head to the bed until I heard knocking on the door. I sighed and walked over to the door to open it. Matthew was outside, panting. He stood up straight and took a deep breath.

"This… might b-be it…" he said between breaths as he held out a piece of old looking paper.

I eyed on the piece of paper and took it from hm. I skimmed through the paper and blinked. There was a short script written in ink.

_The sun goddess once waited,_

_Sheltered in The Fortress of Heavenly Rocks_

_The girl born of Spider Lilies_

_The Shy Mountain_

_With the guidance of the mirror_

_The seeker sought for the fragment_

I knitted my brows together and invited Matthew inside.

"Did you read the content?"

"Y-yes… but I don't know what it means though…" he bit his lip.

"So do I. Keep this. Try and ask around." I handed him the paper "Make sure no one gets a hold of it."

"A-aye captain!" Matthew saluted and went off.

As soon as the door was closed, I walked over to the bed and laid down. I kept repeating the words in my head as I pulled up the blanket and turned off the lights. _Just what does that mean?_

~Matthew's POV~

I sat down on my bed at the crew cabin. Everyone else was already asleep. I looked at the piece of paper and read it over and over again. Sun goddess, spider lilies, mirrors, shy mountains… They just don't make sense! I groaned and scratched my head trying to figure out what it meant. After examining the piece of paper until I knew it like the back of my hand, something finally clicked in.

The writing was not written with pen! Clearly it's done with a brush! That means…. The person who wrote this must either be an Asian or currently are in Asia. Since Asians often use brush to write characters. That means… the next clue must be in one of the Asian countries! Yes! That's it! How could I not have realized this any sooner? I smiled feeling proud to myself and with that accomplished, I could finally let myself get some sleep.

When morning came, I quickly got ready to report my findings to the captain. I have no doubt she was expecting something from me. Or rather, she could have not sleep and kept on thinking what the phrases meant. I tied up my boots making sure the laces won't go off and send me tripping. That wouldn't be nice…. I strolled down quite village to the inn. I knocked on the door and opened it when I heard the captain's permission to come in.

Francis, Gilbert and Antonio were on their sleeping wear and they were sitting on the couch with a very annoyed captain. The captain was still in her sleeping clothes as well as she glared at the three.

"I didn't expect you to report to me in… 7AM." The captain said flatly.

"I-I'm really sorry if I disturbed your sleep!" I bowed.

"No, it's fine. You didn't but these three did." She pointed to the other three sitting down on the couch "Again, why would come here for breakfast?" She glared at the boys accursedly.

"Come on, (Name)! You used to make us omelets!" Gilbert whined.

"And I do not wish to do that again as it is troublesome." She sighed and rubbed her temples "Have you got any guesses about the clue?"

"Y-yes! I do!" I quickly took out the paper.

"Let me see that will you Matthieu?" Francis looked at the paper and read it "This is what we were looking for?"

"Yes. That's one of the many clues that would leads us to the treasure." The captain nodded.

Antonio and Gilbert read it as well and looked at Francis. The both shrugged.

"And what does this supposed to mean?" Antonio tilted his head.

"U-um, if you pay close attention to the writing, it's actually written with a brush, not a feather or fountain pen." I showed them the pattern of the writing "S-so I concluded that the one who wrote this must either be from Asia or is in Asia. I mean, we wouldn't write with a brush…"

Captain took it and took a closer look.

"You're right… it is written with a brush… Good work Matthew, looks like you are very smart as well." She smiled very faintly.

"Th-thank you!" I smiled, happy that I made her happy.

"So, we are going to China? Japan? Korea?" Gilbert asked.

"Non, we can't just go there one by one and explore the whole place! It would take us years!" Francis shook his head "I say we get more information about it and decide on which country it was referring to."

"But how if the one who wrote it is not there? He or she is may be anywhere!" Antonio pointed out.

"That doesn't really matter. This… riddle must be referring to a certain place." The captain said thoughtfully "Francis is right. We need more information."

"I-I'll go around and see if I can find something else about it!" I said and excused myself.

~Your POV~

_Looks like I chose the right one._I folded the piece of paper and handed it to Francis.

"You three go back. I want to shower and head out. And keep the paper safe and hidden. Bring it with you at all times."

"We can stay-" Francis smiled.

"No." I said sternly.

He pouted and stood up. The other two followed him out of my room. When they got out, I went to take my shower. I put on my usually clothing but not my coat as it was quite heavy and it was rather warm outside. I brushed my (H/C) hair and looked at the mirror. Once I was ready I went out of the room and made sure it was locked.

I strode out to the quite and peaceful surrounding of the village. I decided to get some breakfast since my stomach was begging for food already. When I walked in, I could feel the stares I was receiving form the other customers. I walked to the corner and sat down there. I noticed the waitresses were fighting on who was going to serve me. I saw a short girl being pushed looked about thirteen or so. Poor girl, had to work at such a young age. I watched her walking over to me shaking.

"Wh-what can I-I get you, miss?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Just get me some (choice of food) and a glass of water."

"R-right a-away!" she bowed quickly and ran to the kitchen.

I sighed and leaned my elbows on the table. I snaked my hands to my necklace, and took it off. I looked at the golden pendant ghosting my fingers on it. I would always feel happy whenever I touched it. I held it close to my chest and closed my eyes. I cracked my eyes open when I heard a familiar voice in front of me.

"Ve~ ciao captain (name)!" Feliciano chirped.

I looked up and saw the cheerful Italian and behind him was Ludwig.

"Hallo, captain (name)." he bowed slightly.

"Good morning Feliciano, Ludwig." I put on my necklace again.

"You mind if we join you?" Feliciano asked smiling.

I nodded and they sat in front of me. When my food came along with the water, the both ordered their breakfasts. I ate quietly while listening to whatever Feliciano was babbling about to Ludwig who was irritated but continued to listen.

"Ve~ I'm so happy they have pasta here!" Feliciano stuffed a meatball to his mouth.

"…Do you both know about the clue we obtained last night?"

"Ja, we so. Bruder showed it to us." Ludwig nodded.

"It would be very helpful if you both knew something about it…"

"Veh! Luddy! Big bro Gilbert said that it was referring to some place right? And he said the one who wrote it was from Asia or he was in Asian countries! You think Kiku would know something about it?"

"Ja, maybe he does…"

"I'm sorry, who?" I blinked and raised my brows.

"Ah, he's our old friend. We have not been in contact with him for years. He is Japanese and I'm pretty sure he still lives there now." Ludwig explained.

I nodded and finished my food before standing up. I gave them enough money for the three dishes.

"Thank you." With that I turned around "Where is Gilbert?"

"In the bar~" Feliciano smiled.

I walked to the bar and saw Gilbert sitting there drinking a glass of beer. I sighed and snatched it away from him.

"Its just 8AM." I said and put the glass of beer aside.

"Aw come on (Name)! Its normal for me!" Gilbert whined.

"Whatever. Where are Antonio and Francis?"

"Toni is walking around with Lovino. And Francis? Probably somewhere hitting on girls." He shrugged "What's up with you?"

"Go find Francis and I'll go find Antonio. We're going to Japan."

"What? Japan? Why?"

"Go ask your younger brother." I said and left him.

I started to walk around the village until I spotted Antonio who was being punched on the arm by an angry Italian. I walked over to them and Lovino finally stopped.

"We need to set off as soon as possible."

"Eh? What happened?" Antonio tilted his head in confusion.

"We need to go to Japan."

"Japan? Are you sure that's where we need to go?"

"Yes, Ludwig and Feliciano know a Japanese man. And he might know what this means. This is the only chance we can take. The captain of the ship we stole from will definitely notice any time sooner. It won't be pretty if we were still here and he or she knows that it's missing."

"Si, alright, Lovi~ go prepare the ship then~ Por favor~"

"Whatever, tomato bastard." Lovino huffed and walked away.

"We'll meet on the port in an hour."

~timeskip~

I watched the village getting farther and farther away. I glanced over to Francis and crossed my arms.

"I hope this trip would be worth it. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I wanted to talk to Matthieu." Francis nodded to Matthew who was helping out with the sail.

"You can talk to him if he's free."

"Merci, mon cher~" he blew a kiss and walked over to him.

"Or you could do it right now…" I sighed and went to my cabin.

* * *

"Get ready with the ship you bloody wanker! We are leaving tonight!" Arthur scowled.

"We still have time! Be patient, dude!" Alfred scoffed.

"If it's not ready by 6 I will castrate you personally with my sword." Arthur warned.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Alfred shrugged it off, knowing he wouldn't do that anyways.

"Where did you hide the clue?"

"Between the books in your shelf." Alfred said simply.

"I have hundreds of books. Which one is it?" Arthur rubbed his temples trying to figure out why hehasn't killed the git yet.

"Um… I'm pretty sure it's the one you loved to read so much. That story novel I think." Alfred put his finger on his chin.

"Lost Treasure?"

"Yeah that's the one." Alfred nodded.

Arthur nodded and set off to his ship. He took out his keys to unlock the door. But the door was unlocked.

'That git forgot to lock the door again…' he thought as he went inside.

He took out the storybook he had been keeping for years. 'Lost Treasure' he knew the book like the back of his hand. Every conflict, problem, details. They were all in his head. He read the first few chapters to (Name) but never really had time to continue it since it was quite thick. As a child, Arthur adored reading unlike (Name) who never liked novels or writing.

He flipped through all the pages. Nothing. He furrowed his brows and flipped through again. Still nothing. He faced the book down and tried to see if anything came out. Nope. He began to search the whole cabin and found nothing of the particular clue he got from Edelstein. He quickly unlocked his small drawer, which was hidden behind the painting and was relieved when he saw all the other clues he had obtained were still there.

He took the book with him and headed back to his room where Alfred was sleeping on his bed.

"Wake up you bloody git!" he kicked Alfred off the bed.

"Ow… what the hell do you want, dude? I was sleeping!" Alfred rubbed his newly formed bump on his head.

"I'm pretty sure the clue is not here." I tossed the book to him.

Alfred looked confused and flipped through he pages. He opened a particular page where he hid it.

"What the hell? It was here! I'm sure I hid it here! This page!" Alfred pointed to the page.

"And I don't see anything there."

"I swear! Its here!" Alfred flipped through the pages again.

"Maybe its in some other book. Go find it." Arthur sighed. "And you forgot to lock my cabin door again."

"I locked it! 100%! If not then I must be dreaming! The clue was right here! I slipped it in perfectly between this page… if its gone and the door was unlocked then…"

"Impossible! No one here even dares to talk to a pirate!"

"Unless if that person is a pirate him or herself."

Arthur widened his eyes as he finally realized something. First, he saw three ships somewhere there. And second, the only person who talked to him calmly and coolly was…

"That bloody woman…" Arthur clenched his fists to balls "Fuck… I was careless. I'll get her for this…" he cursed under his breath "Alfred! Get ready with the ship! Now! We are leaving! I need to track down a certain ship and a woman."

"What? You are in hurry because you want to chase down a woman?" Alfred gaped.

"Not just any woman. A pirate. She stole the clue from my ship."

~Arthur's POV~

Alfred and I quickly headed to my ship and all the crews got ready to set sail. I would need to scold all my bloody crew later. How the bloody hell can they let someone trespass my ship?! That woman.. I knew something was off about her. Cecilia… what a joke.

Sun goddess, spider lilies and shy mountains. Yes, I do remember what it was about. Looks like all we have to do is find their bloody ship and stalk them. Because I know they have already came up with something about the clue, which I hadn't.

* * *

~Your POV~

"How many days to Japan?" I asked Matthew who was looking at the map.

"A week."

"Make sure all of the crews train everyday, including you. We might experience some conflict along the way…" I said as I went out of my cabin. It seems that something big was about to happen. I smirked at the thought. Then I'll just make sure it'll be absolutely entertaining.

* * *

**AN: And that's it for this chapter! I'm so excited to make the ext chapter! Things are getting exciting. Anyone can solve the riddle? I gave you guys some clues already!**

**The Witch Alchemist: Yeah he is quite oblivious before...**

**Leave4 a review please and look forward to the next chapter! Adieu~**


	6. Japan

Chapter 6

Japan

_**Disclaimer: I own nada~ only own the plot =w=**_

**AN: 'ello! I'm back but first let me say: Please forgive me for updating so late! Lite-chan(editor) is out of town for a few days... (blaming her, again) no guys, I'm serious. She is out to a school trip for helping the needy. She's so kind isn't she? But anyways, here's teh chapter! Please read the editor's note so you guys won't gte confused... Since the one who does the riddles is not me. I'm just the one who plans the storyline =w= enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

The island was visible now. After a week of training, I'm sure the crew and I have gotten a little better. I looked back at the sea. There was something off. My mind could not brush off the thought. There was this sickening chill going through me, like it was telling me that we were being followed. Whether this was just a delusional thought or an actually warning, I couldn't make up my mind. I shrugged off the thought and got ready to port.

When I finally set my feet on the ground again, I took a good look around of the small village with the others. The village was so traditional. Everyone walking around were using the Japanese traditional clothes.

"And where is the man we are looking for?" I asked Ludwig.

"He lives in the village right next to this one. We can ride one of those carriages and it would be an hour ride."

I nodded and got Matthew to get us two carriages for the eight of us. The person who owned the small horse was old, around his sixties. The village seemed so peaceful, everyone was happy. The old man was very polite as well. What I heard from others about Japan was that people here are extremely polite.

"What are you young people up to in a village as this for your destination?" the old man asked, a smile on his face.

"We're here to meet someone, old greis(old man)!" Gilbert flashed his usual smirk.

"I see. Well, maybe I can take you to the one whom you are looking for?"

"That would be wonderful, we are searching for um.." Antonio trailed off thinking of the name.

"Kiku. Kiku Honda." I continued.

The old man didn't response for a while and looked behind, looking at us.

"Gomenasai. But I don't know his whereabouts."

"Its okay, merci." Francis smiled and nodded.

When we arrived at the next village, we were dropped right in front of a huge gate, which I guess, was used to serve as a boundary to separate the two villages. I took out my pouch of money and counted a certain amount of money. I handed it to the old man but he held his hand in front of me and smiled.

"No need of that, it was not very far away."

"What? It's an hour ride and it's between two villages long!" Gilbert exclaimed.

"Consider it as a welcoming treat." He bowed and got on the carriage again.

Before he left he looked at the four of us before he mumbled something in Japanese, which none of us could comprehend. After getting body searched and permitted to enter the village, we waited for the other four.

Ludwig led us to Kiku Hinda's house, which was just an ordinary traditional Japanese house with a small garden in front. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. I heard the shuffling of a person as the sliding door opened revealing a small, Japanese. He had a handsome feature, neat jet-black hair and a pair of dark brown, dull eyes. He was wearing plain blue traditional clothes. He looked up at Ludwig and Felciano and blinked.

"Ludwig-san? Feliciano-kun? Gilbert-san?"

"Ve~ ciao Kiku! Long time no see huh? I missed you a lot!" Feliciano glomped him, causing his face to instantly turn red. He pushed Feliciano away.

"P-please don't go into my personal space too much!" he said quickly as he straightened his kimono.

"Was ist los (what's up), Kiku! Long time no see!" Gilbert grinned.

"Hallo, Kiku, are you busy?" Ludwig asked him.

"No, not at all." he glanced over to the rest of us and looked at Ludwig with worried eyes "Ano, may I ask, who are those behind you?"

"Ah, my name is Francis Bonnefoy, only the most roman-" I smacked his head.

"Hola, I'm Antonio Fernandez Carriedo!"

"I-I'm M-Matthew Williams."

"Lovino Vargas. That stupid guy's brother."

"(Full name), nice to meet you."

"Hai, its nice to meet you all." Kiku bowed "Please come inside."

Kiku opened the door and let us all inside. I examined his house and I had to admit it was pretty big. The floor was covered in tatami and four cushions were placed parallel with each other, surrounding a fire pit. There was a sliding door next to a table, which had vase of chrysanthemums. Basically it was purely to the core a traditional Japanese house. Kiku led us in and motioned us to sit down. I knelt down on one of the cushions while the rest decided to sit on the tatami floor. Kiku came back with a tray of Japanese green tea and served us a glass each. He sat down as well and sipped his tea.

"It has been such a long time, but may I ask, is there a reason for your unexpected visit?" Kiku asked in a flat tone.

"Ja, we do. Let's just get straight to the point. We have a set of phrases and we believe that you may know something about it." Ludwig nodded and gestured Francis to hand the piece of paper to Kiku.

Francis rummaged through his pocket and whipped out the piece of paper. He handed it to Kiku who took it and skimmed through the content. He blinked and looked at us, not responding at all as if he was drifted off to some other world.

"So?" Ludwig raised his brows.

"Hai, I do know something about this. The Sun goddess refers to Amaterasu. The fortress may be the cave where she hid and I believe the mirror would be the Yato no Kagami. However the Shy Mountain and Spider Lilies puzzles me." Kiku glanced over me "May I know where you obtained this piece of paper?"

"We just found it between pages in a book I was reading." I said quickly answered before anyone could response.

"I see. Well, if you are searching for something, this riddle tells you to get the mirror and bring it to the Amano-Iwato cave. That's what I believe at least."

"Do you know the location of this mirror?" I asked.

"If I recall correctly, it is stored in the Imperial Palace." Kiku informed me.

"Hey, hey Kiku! You know anything about the greatest treasure? That thing actually leads us to it!" Feliciano chirped.

Everyone mentally facepalmed and let out a loud sigh. _Feliciano…_ I grunted and shook my head in disbelief. I glanced over to Kiku, who looked a little surprised. He fidgeted a little and everything just became dead silent for a few seconds.

"If you are after it, I suggest you be careful. The Yato no Kagami is heavily guarded as it is one of the four Regalia of Japan. Infiltrating the imperial palace might not be such a good idea." Kiku started but trailed off.

"But do you have any idea where the mirror is placed in the palace?" I asked warily.

Kiku shook his head "Gomenasai. I do not know. The Yato no Kagami is one of the primary items needed in the Imperial enthronement ceremony. Only the emperor and certain priests are able to access this mirror. I'm afraid that is all I know on this matter."

"It's alright, you helped us quite enough." I stood up and bowed "Thank you very much for your help. It really helped us and we should get going."

"Hai, please be careful. I don't want you all getting hurt." Kiku smiled faintly and led us to the front door.

When we all got out, Kiku bid us goodbye and closed the door. I walked briskly to the street.

"Hey, so what now?" Antonio patted my shoulder.

"Isn't it clear? Infiltrate the imperial palace." I simply said.

"WHAT?!" the others yelled in unison. (Excluding Feliciano of course)

"Keep it down. We'll go somewhere less crowded and we'll talk about this."

* * *

We all gathered in a private room in a certain restaurant.

"Are you out of your mind, (Name)?! If we get caught, we'll be executed!" Gilbert exclaimed.

"That's why it's called infiltrating." I sipped my tea "it's the only thing that paper is all about. Go to Japan and get the mirror from the imperial palace and bring it to that cave."

"She's right, mon ami. It seems like the mirror is the only ticket to the next clue." Francis said thoughtfully.

The others hummed in agreement while Gilbert just sighed loudly knowing that this would be very risky.

"Its decided then. We are going to infiltrate the palace tomorrow. Midnight stroke." I announced, "Matthew, I want you to go to the imperial palace ahead of us and look around. And then report back to me tonight. You can bring along Ludwig, Feliciano and Lovino to keep you company."

"Yes, captain!" Matthew saluted and gestured for the other three to come with him.

"You sure about this? You know this is very risky." Gilbert asked worriedly.

"What can you say Gil? We are playing a risky game." Francis shrugged "Even our life is on the line."

"Yeah, besides, we have nothing else but to get that mirror. Its our only clue right now." Antonio nodded.

"Fine." Gilbert grumbled and crossed his arms.

I finished my tea and paid for it. I stood up and strode out.

"Now, all we have to do is wait."

* * *

~Arthur's POV~

"Bloody woman ported in Japan." I growled and ordered the rest of the crew to port as well "Get ready you bloody wankers! Its time to port again!"

_Spy on her and her bloody friends and get the __next __clue before she does._ I made a mental note and smirked. I'm going to kill that bloody woman, how dare she steals from me.

"Artie, dude, I'm still tired!" Alfred whined.

"Shut up you git! Don't whine! And don't call me that!" I snapped and ordered him to help with the rest of the crews.

I set my feet on the ground and looked around. The place was quiet but it looks like pirates were not a problem here. I strode down along the street trying to at least catch a glimpse of her. The village was small enough for me to search through within two hours. But there was no bloody sign of her. _I should ask around._ I saw an old man on a carriage passing by.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a woman with (H/L) (H/C) hair and (E/C) eyes? She has a straight face and doesn't show much expression."

The old man thought for a while until his face broke down a little.

"She is in the village next to this one. Is she with someone else other than her companions? Who are you to her?"

"Her…lover." I smiled and covered Alfred's mouth as he was about to speak "Do you mind taking me to that village? I'm in search of her."

"But of course. We better hurry up because I'm worried that she may not be completely safe right now." He hurried me.

I pushed Alfred on the carriage and got on as well.

"Oh my! What in the name of the Queen has happened to her?" I tried my best to sound worried.

"She was searching for the Sairento ōkami."

"I'm sorry, who?"

"The silent wolf. He is the strongest samurai in the whole of Japan!"

"That's a cheesy name! Who's this dude man?" Alfred cackled.

"D-don't make fun of Kiku-sama! He won't tolerate being disrespected!" the old man quickly said.

Alfred looked at me and I nodded. _Unbelievable. What has this world done to the people? To think that __the extremely__ polite __person I had once known__ became a very feared samurai._ After an hour ride, we finally reached the village.

"Alfred, the payment."

"No need! Saving the girl will be the payment. It's not very far away anyway." the old man smiled "This girl of yours, what is her name? I didn't have the chance to ask her name?"

"Cecilia."

"Say my hello to Cecilia. Good luck in finding her." He smiled and left.

"Are we going to see Kiku?" Alfred asked.

"No. We'll stick to finding the bloody woman."

* * *

"Baka… How very careless of them. Let's see if they are able to find the mirror. If they do then, that would be really helpful, I don't need to get it myself." A mischievous smile formed on Kiku lips as he sharpened his prized katana.

He gazed over his reflection on the shining steel and licked his lips.

"Are you hungry for blood? Don't worry, you will soon have your prey." He smiled like a psychopath and sliced the dummy in front of him in a split second.

Kiku Honda, a.k.a, the silent wolf felt the bloodlust slowly grow within him. Soon, he will begin his hunt.

* * *

**AN: PLOT TWIST! So, Kiku would be more to the dark!Japan here... because it suits him better in this state. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter... for those who are cinfused about what the riddle was about please proceed below to read the editor's note.**

**Nanami Of Falling Snow: What? Can't handle him? =w= (using the emoticon a lot...)**

**bookloverfair22: I'm glad you like it~ nope Lite is the one who does the riddles. I'm no good at making riddles.**

**Ali-kun: well, you gotta be patient if you want to find out! So stay tuned!**

**Editor's note:**

**I'll be doing this from time to time since I'm the one who does the clues for this fic. You can call me Lite. For this first clue, blackrozen wanted reader to go to Japan, so I decided to use the Legend of Amaterasu.**

**When Susano-o, Amaterasu's brother, attacked her temple in drunken rage, destroying parts of her temple and killing some of her maidens in the process, Amaterasu hid in Amano-Iwato, causing the world to be engulfed in darkness.**

**To lure her out of the cave, the other gods placed a mirror, the Yato no Kagami, next to the cave entrance. They began to cheer due to the antics of Ame no Uzume. When Amaterasu peeked out to see what the commotion was about, she was told they were celebrating the birth of a new god and was directed to look at the mirror. Never seeing her reflection before, she was fascinated and exited the cave, bringing light back to the world.**

**=w=w=w=w=w=w=**

**Reviews are loved ve~ =w=**


	7. Infiltrating the palace

Chapter 7

Infiltrating the Imperial palace

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing... not surprising at all.**_

**AN: And here's the new chapter! Pretty rare for me to update in weekdays huh? Yeah, I did the half of this in my phone and the rest in the computer. Its a special extra long chapter for you guys :D so enjoy~**

* * *

Matthew took a deep breath when he finally saw the sight of the palace. They continued on walking until they reached near the enormous gate of the palace. All they could see was guards and their numbers were absolutely ridiculous. The four of them hid in a bush not far by the gate of the palace.

'This is mad! How the hell can we infiltrate that thing?' Matthew gaped at the sight of the palace.

"Dammit, why did I have to come with you idiots?" Lovino spat.

"Ve~ the more the merrier!" Feliciano chirped.

"Be quite!" Ludwig hushed Feliciano "It won't pretty if we get caught!"

"So what now?" Lovino asked Matthew.

"We'll just go around the palace and try to search for any way to go in." Matthew crouched as silently as possible.

The other three followed with Feliciano's ever so silent humming. Ludwig had to cover his mouth when they were crouching on the floor, which was, believe me, very troublesome.

"I don't think there is any way to get in there by not alarming the guards…" Ludwig said barely audible.

"No… there must be at least one way…" Matthew slowly crouched nearer to the palace to the point that he was almost out of the bush.

Matthew scanned his eye on his surroundings and spotted a place where guards were not there. The waters.

'Maybe we could swim in the waters without being noticed… but how can we climb up?' Matthew clicked his tongue and tried to think of an idea…

"G-guys… I think the waters might be our only chance of getting in there." Matthew informed the other three.

"What? We need to swim? And then how do we climb up?" Lovino questioned.

"Th-that's the thing I was wondering about…" Matthew sighed.

"Ve! I know! We can dress up like one of the guards and sneak in!" Feliciano raised up his hands.

Ludwig quickly pulled his hand down and asked him to speak in a lower volume.

"Ja… its cliché but I think that might be the best idea we can come up now…"

"Si, I agree with my idiotafratello this time…"

"Alright, we should go back and report now…" Matthew nodded and made their way back.

The four continued to crouch within the bushes, getting some scratches and bug bites here and there. When one of the guards noticed the constant moving of the bushes, he got suspicious.

"Nanika ga sono shigemi ni natte iru... Anata wa amarini mo hinpan ni ugoite hyōji sa renai nodesu ka?(Something is in that bush... don't you see its moving too often?)" on of the guards stated.

To the four, who did not understand a single word the guard had said, continued to crouch, trying their best to remain hidden.

"Hai, sore o chekku auto shitekudasai.(Yes, go check it out)" the other said.

The other one nodded and slowly approached the bush where the four were hiding. Feliciano was bursting out fits of silent sobs as Ludwig covered his mouth trying his best to keep the Italian quite. They all crouched very low on the grassy ground, crossing their fingers and praying that he would actually forget about it.

As the sound of footsteps got louder and louder, Matthew's heart was pounding against his rib cage. His palms were getting sweaty as he covered his own mouth to at least make his breath more silent. Lovino was chanting a thread of curses when inside, he was actually already crying his heart out. Ludwig swallowed hard, sweat beading down his temple.

"Hayaku, sore waimawatashi-tachi no kyūkeidesu.(Faster, it's our break now.)" his partner called out.

Matthew quickly let out a 'meow' hoping with all his hear that he would buy it. Whatever they were saying, for him it didn't sound good at all. The four of them quickly relaxed their tensed muscles when the guard actually bought it and turned on his heels.

"Sono chōdo neko… (Its just a cat…)"

Not wanting to stay on the dreaded place any longer, they hustled off further away from the palace.

* * *

~Meanwhile~

Arthur kept his eyes sharp for any sign of Cecilia. He even scanned every single girl who had (H/C) hair. Why was she not around? That was the question he kept asking himself. Could it be that the old man tricked him? Did she pay him to take him far away from her? No, Arthur could read people like books. And he wasn't lying. The eyes tell it all.

"Dude, I'm getting tired! We've been walking around this whole place for like an hour!" Alfred whined.

"Shut up you git. We are not leaving until we find her." Arthur snarled still scanning over his surroundings.

"What if she's not here anymore?"

Arthur stopped and looked at Alfred. He hummed and thought for a while.

"You see, that could be true… but we don't know yet."

"Can't we make this easier? She's searching for Kiku right? Why don't we just go to him and ask him?" Alfred suggested.

"So we just walk in front of the door of the most feared samurai in Japan and ask him a bunch of questions?"

"Why do you believe this old man anyways?"

"Because he is telling the truth."

"Whatever…" Alfred shrugged "But I still think Kiku wouldn't be the kind of person who would you know… be all like: Hey! I'm a samurai! And people fear me!" Alfred tried to imitate Kiku'svoice, which he failed miserablyin.

"Actually… that is worth a shot." Arthur said thoughtfully "But what if Kiku find us suspicious? I don't think they wanted to see him just for a friendly chat. They wanted something. The clue. Actually… we can ask him directly… knowing him, he will tell us. Then that's when we'll know where she headed off. We meet her there and kill her, take the clue back. Perfect." Arthur smiled while memorizing the whole plan in his mind.

Alfred just gawked and just shook his head. He motioned his arms that Arthur and shrugged.

"Do whatever you want to."

"Too dense to follow me aren't ya? Oh well, let's just get changed into some more… normal clothes."

~Timeskip~

"You sure this is the place?" Arthur asked Alfred.

"Yeah. I still remember where he lives! And I'm sure this is the place!" Alfred nodded and without thinking twice he called out for Kiku while knocking on the door "Yo! Kiku! You there, dude?"

Kiku, who was practicing his deadly moves, quickly halted and he stood there for a while trying to remember whose familiar voice it belonged to. When it finally clicked, Kiku quickly hid his katana and fixed his clothes and hair. He wiped off the beads of sweat on his forehead and hustled over the front door.

"Let me do the talking okay? Stay quite as much as you can." Arthur instructed Alfred when he heard some shuffling.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Kiku slid the door to the side to reveal an American who had an ear-to-ear grin.

"What's up, dude? Long no see huh?" Alfred beamed.

"Ello, Kiku. It's has been a while." Arthur bowed slightly.

"A-Alfred-san? A-Arthur-san? What are you both doing here?"Kiku blinked.

"We just came to visit you. Thought of visiting an old friend while we are on a trip." Arthur smiled.

"I see… p-please! Come in!" Kiku gestured them to come in.

"Is it that hot? You're sweating a lot!" Alfred noticed the sweat stain on the back of Kiku's kimono.

"Uh… I was doing some aerobics… I'm getting old so it was bets for me to exercise daily."

Kiku led the both to the living room and served them green tea, which Arthur always enjoyed in the past.

"How have you been doing, Kiku? Are things good?" Arthur started as he took a sip of the warm tea.

"It's good. I have been enjoying my life. Although sometimes it becomes quite hard but I feel that everyday seem like a wonderful day. And you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Been traveling and you know same old same old… but I'm happily married to a beautiful lady now." Arthur clenched his fists surprised that he could actually say it naturally "Which reminds me… I'm in search of her. She said she wanted to visit this place and meet up at the restaurant nearby here. But I can't find her anywhere. So I decided to drop by here for a while."

Everything became silent for a few seconds.

"I had not been walking around outside today…" Kiku muttered.

"But have you seen any girl with (H/L) (H/C) hair, (E/C) eyes and about (height)?"

Kiku twitched a little which Arthur noticed. Arthur smirked inside.

'She did come here…' he thought and made a sad face "I hope she's okay…"

"Ano… when I was out to but some supplies, I actually saw her. And she was asking for direction. She was going to the… imperial palace." Kiku said, he sounded like he was thinking every word he was about to let out from his mouth.

"Really? Is it really her? Are you sure?" Arthur put a look of surprised.

"Hai. I'm pretty sure. (H/L) (H/C) and (E/C). About (height) tall." Kiku nodded.

'The clue must be there…'

~Kiku's POV~

Whatever Arthur-san is up to… Something is definitely off. First of all, Alfred-san was too quiet and he looked like he wanted to talk so badly. Usually, Arthur-san would be the one who was quieter. Not Alfred-san. _They are plotting on something. I can tell. _How foolish of them… they think they can outsmart me.

But then, they must not know about my status yet since only a few people know my real identity. Unlike Arthur-san, he is the well-known king of the seven seas. Almost everyone knew that. Including me. Who didn't know about Arthur Kirkland? Which… makes everything even better because I do know what he was up to. He was after the clue as well. He is a pirate after all; the greediest creatures in the seven seas.

_Great, now I have a better chance to obtain the mirror. _I forced back a smirk, which was starting to linger on my lips. This would be much easier than I thought…

"So do you know where she is right now?" Arthur-san snapped me out of my trance.

"I'm sorry but no. She didn't tell me where she was heading. But I do know that she would be visiting the imperial palace soon because she had some really important business there."

"Alright then, thank you so much for letting me know about this, Kiku. It's nice to see you again." Arthur-san stood up "I need to hustle and search for her. God knows what she is doing right now…"

"Okay then," I stood up as well "it was a pleasure."

I led them to the front door and waved my hand goodbye.

"Hope to see you soon, dude!" Alfred-san grinned and waved his hand back.

As soon as they were not at my sight anymore, I closed the door and walked into my room smirking as wide as I could. I would need to prepare for the upcoming event. Looks like things will be rather interesting.

~Arthur's POV~

"Dude! You made me not talk for the whole time! I really wanted to talk to him you know! Not cool!" Alfred huffed.

"You do know that he is longer the KIku you used to know right?"

"He seems the same to me…" Alfred shrugged "Besides so what if he's a samurai? Its not like he's going to kill us."

"You shoulder be sharper and you need to stay guarded. Anything is possible." I warned him.

The only problem now is that; we have no clue in where they are. If we're lucky, I would catch her wandering around the village or maybe I would get a glimpse of her friends.

After searching for a whooping two hours, we decided to go for plan B, which was to go to the imperial palace. It would be impossible for her not to go there or if she had gotten a hold of the clue. It would be way too fast. Besides, only a bloody idiot would try to infiltrate a very secured place during day.

* * *

~Your POV~

I was sitting on the bed of the room I just rented a while ago when I heard a knock on the door. I strode over the door and opened the door revealing Gilbert and Matthew.

"Yes?"

"W-we have looked around the palace. And we have an idea on how to infiltrate it." Matthew said quietly.

"Come in." I opened the door and gestured then to come in.

When the four stepped inside, I stepped outside.

"I'll call for the three, you four stay here and wait." With that, I left my room.

I strode over to their room and knocked on the door, I heard a faint shuffling of footsteps and the door slid open revealing Antonio who was smiling as usual.

"Oh hola, (Name)! We didn't expect for you to visit us… come in!" Antonio smiled and invited me in.

"No, I wanted to invite you to my room instead. They have returned and they said they know what to do. I expect your three to be there by five minutes." I turned on my heels and went back to my room.

We gathered on the small wooden dining table. Matthew was telling us everything he saw in the palace; the structure, the guards, the surroundings and all the other details. Including how sharp the guards were and how they almost got captured.

"So, I don't think we have any other choice but to silently take down a few guards and disguise as one." Matthew explained.

"Well, that's a classic… but you know, when you think about it, that is the only way. Unless you can fly." Gilbert said while nodding.

Everyone nodded and agreed to the plan. Tomorrow midnight, we will put the plan in action. Feliciano kept on whining on how dangerous it was and he kept on exaggerating on how the almost got killed when the guard was approaching then. I never knew why Gilbert decided to bring him along in the first place anyways… right he was an expert at escaping. Which was handy by the way.

After settling the plan, I decided to get something to eat since I hadn't have my lunch yet and it was almost dinner. I set out to the nearest restaurant, a Japanese restaurant. I never tried any Japanese food before so why not give it a shot?

The restaurant was not very big. It has small booths and it was pretty crowded as most of the seats were occupied. The potted bamboos and the scroll paintings complimented the walls. I picked the seat nearby the window and even before I raise my hand up to call for the waitress, she was approaching me already. She was smiling softly as she took out a small notepad and a pen.

"Anata wa nani gashitai(what would you like to have)?" she smiled while getting ready to take note.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak Japanese."

"Oh! I'm sorry! What would you like to have?" she asked in a polite tone.

"I don't really know what is good so can you help me?" I asked while reading the menu, which was mostly in Japanese.

"Hai, lets see… how about, our special beef teriyaki set?" she pointed at a phrase, which I assumed, was what she called beef teriyaki.

Since it sound interesting, I nodded and ordered one portion of it. After ten minutes or so, the waitress from before approached me while carrying a tray of food. She put the tray on the table. I looked at it for a while and to be honest, it looked appetizing.

"Enjoy." She smiled sweetly before bowing.

"Thank you. May I have a spoon and fork please?"

"Certainly. I forgot that you were a foreigner." She nodded and strode away.

She came back after a moment and gave me a spoon and a fork. I was never taught how to use chopsticks so what choice did I have?

* * *

Arthur closed his pocket watch and stuffed it back to his pocket. He never knew searching someone would this be hard. It was never difficult for him. After feeling tired and famished, he decided to fill up his stomach a little bit at the restaurant Kiku used to bring him whenever he visited him. Alfred quickly brightened up when he heard that they were going to eat.

When they entered the restaurant, they strode over to the seat at the corner of the small place. Arthur scanned the whole place. Nothing has changed at since he last visited the place, which was about five years ago. The only difference would be new waitresses and there was no Kiku with him. His eyes rested on a certain girl seated by the window. Yes, it was Cecilia. His eyes widened as a devious smirk formed on his lips.

"Look who we have got here… finally." He muttered.

"Who?" Alfred turned his head around to the direction of where Arthur was staring at "You interested in that girl? Well she does look hot." He chuckled.

"No you bloody wanker! Can't you see? (H/L), (H/C) hair and (E/C) eyes?!It's her! The bloody woman who stole the clue!" Arthur shouted in a whispering tone.

"She's rather hot for a pirate don't cha think?" Alfred grinned toothily.

"No she is not and look at her as much as you want now. You won't be seeing anymore soon." Arthur slowly stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going?"

"I want you to stay outside the door and make sure she doesn't escape understood?" Arthur instructed.

Alfred nodded promptly and went out, staying right in front of the door. Arthur, on the other hand, was slowly approaching Cecilia who was eating her food. He smoothly slid on the chair right in front of her, making her to look up. She furrowed her brows trying to remember who he was. He seemed too familiar to her.

She eyed her (E/C) eyes on his clothing and only one word described him. Pirate. He was definitely a pirate. And then, it finally snapped in. It was the one who she talked to when they were porting at the village before. He was the one who gave her some information about the treasure. It all made sense now. Of course he was not afraid to talk to her; he was a pirate as well.

"Hello again, love. I don't know if you remembered me or not…" Arthur smiled.

"I'm sorry. I'm not good with faces." She said flatly.

"Aw come on now, love. I'm sure you do! I'm the one who told you about the treasure!" Arthur leaned against the chair and crossed his legs "I'm Lance, remember? Fancy seeing you here, Cecilia."

"Lance. Nice seeing you again, but I'm very busy. So if you don't mind, I would like to quickly finish my food and go." She continued to eat calmly.

"Where exactly are you going? I thought travelers aren't that busy?"

"Well, I promised my friend to meet somewhere in ten minutes."

"I see-"

"Excuse me; I need to go to the restroom." Cecilia stood up and left to the restroom.

"Oh sure, just don't take too long! I need to ask you something~"

~Your POV~

_Shit, how can I not think about that last time? I need to escape…_ I looked around the small toilet and saw a small window at the top. I climbed up the closet and tried to search the knob for the window. Great, there was none. I looked around once more to make sure no one else was around. I swiftly elbowed the window, shattering it to pieces. I didn't care if someone heard it and quickly but carefully slipped out of it. I landed smoothly on the ground as I walked over to the crowd, blending in.

I whipped my head behind and I saw the man, who called himself Lance was looking around. I doubt his name was Lance though. If he was a pirate then… when it clicked in, I walked faster realizing that he was the owner of the ship I stole from. He must me after me to get the clue back.

I bumped into someone and looked up. It was a man with sapphire eyes, which were covered by square lenses. He had a dirty blonde hair with a wild cowlick standing up proudly. Somehow, he really looked like Matthew. I almost mistook him for Matthew.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly before passing by him.

When I finally lost them, I quickly made my way back to the inn. Change of plans, we would need to put the plan in action tonight. Before that person finds us.

~Arthur's POV~

"What the bloody hell are you doing? That was her! You let her pass!" I groaned on frustration.

"I didn't know it was her! I never saw her!" Alfred shrugged.

I rubbed my temples and groaned. How could I have lost her again?

"We are going to the imperial palace."

"How about dinner?"

"We'll get that on the way."

If that's how she wants to play it then fine. I will play the bloody game as well. She has nowhere to go anymore but the imperial palace.

(Name)'s breath was short as she knocked on the door of the three boys' room. Francis opened the door and gave her a confused look when he saw her all exhausted.

"What have you been doing, mon cher?"

"No-thing important. Just go get the others. Now!" (Name) instructed.

Francis was utterly confused but complied nonetheless. When everyone was gathered at the room. (Name) announced something that surprised everyone.

"We need to infiltrate the palace tonight." She announced.

"What?! We are not even prepared yet!" Gilbert pointed out.

"I know but the pirate we stole from, he's here and he knows that we are here as well. I ran into him just now… and he turned out to be the person who gave me information about the clue. He calls himself, Lance." she explained "If we don't do it tonight, its either we get captured by him or we leave this place and leave the clue which can be obtained by him."

"She's right…. We have no other choice." Francis agreed.

The others gave a worried look but finally agreed. They really had no other options. Its take it or leave it. So, tonight it was.

They spent the rest of their time training their sword fighting inside the room. They couldn't go out since it was way too risky. When the clock stroked ten, they made their way to the Imperial palace.

They were not able to take any transportation as it might build us a suspicion. They were forced to walk for a whole one hour and thirty minutes. Ludwig would constantly carry Feliciano and Gilbert would whine on how 'un-awesome' it was for someone like him to walk all the way to somewhere so far away.

They all sneaked between the bushes where Matthew, Ludwig, Feliciano and Lovino were hiding earlier.

"Here's the plan, we split into four groups. Whichever group finds the mirror first without being noticed, immediately escape and go back to the ship. If anyone is in trouble and you need backup, just make a loud noise and one pair go to him or them. If its twice, two and so on. Is this clear?" (Name) explained.

"Wait, what about the others who don't find the mirror?" Antonio asked.

"Since we would be disguising as guards, take around an hour to search the whole place and meet up at the main gate. So, anymore questions?"

Feliciano raised his hand up high making Ludwig to put it back down.

"How if we get caught?"

"For you, if you get caught, escape as fast as you can. Or you'll die." (Name) simply said.

"Ve! I don't want to die!" Feliciano cried.

"Anymore questions?" everyone shook their heads "Okay, pick your partner and we can start."

Gilbert went with Ludwig, Antonio went with Lovino (took a long time for him to agree), while Francis went with Matthew and (Name) was left with Feliciano. The four pairs spread out and thus begun the infiltration.

First up were Gilbert and Ludwig. Gilbert searched for a place with fewer guards and signaled Ludwig to take one of them. When two guards were strolling pass the tree where the two men were hiding, Gilbert gave the signal and they both silently pulled the two guards into the darkness. They closed their mouths while knocking them unconscious. They changed into the guard uniform and quietly hopped out and acted like the guards.

As for Antonio and Lovino, Lovino purposely showed himself infront of two guards who were patrolling. They charged to him as Antonio swiftly took them out. They dragged them behind the bushes and changed into the uniform.

Francis and Matthew hid between the bushes near the gate. Francis gave a small whistle catching the attention of the two guards who were guarding by the gate. They looked at each other before getting ready with their katanas and walked over to the source of the sound. When they got close enough, Francis and Matthew quickly grabbed their feet and dragged them into the bush beating the crap out of them.

(Name) and Feliciano were waiting behind a tree for a pair of guards to show up. (Name) knew it was going to be rather hard to have the Italian as her partner. When finally she spotted two guards passing by, she was about to charge when Feliciano sneezed. The guards immediately whipped their heads to the direction of the tree and held up their katanas. (Name) let out a groan while swiftly taking them out herself. They dragged them behind the tree and changed into the uniform.

Thus, they began searching. After thirty minutes, nothing has happened yet. Which was quite surprising for (Name), she could believe that the Italian actually managed to blend in with the guards, even though they knocked out a few guards more, as they sneakily searched around the palace. Some guards were sharp enough to realize that they were intruders, it gave them quite a hard time but they managed to take them out. When (Name) was looking carefully at the walls, making sure there was no some kind of secret room behind one of the walls when suddenly she heard a loud boom.

"Ve, did you hear that?" Feliciano whispered to her.

"Yeah. Lets go, we're near one of them." (Name) nodded.

Guards were running towards the source of the sound as (Name) and Feliciano blend in with them. And there they were, Gilbert and Ludwig fighting against about thirty or so guards. Of course who else would cause the most noise other than Gilbert? On the floor, scattered blood and some dead bodies or unconscious people, guards to be exact. Gilbert and Ludwig looked exhausted already but Gilbert's smirk never left his face as if he was enjoying this, which he actually was.

(Name) nodded to Feliciano and unsheathed their swords and began fighting against the guards too. After taking out numerous of guards, the four of them grew too tired already. (Name) was confused on why there not much guards when she expected it to be. Suddenly she felt someone bump to her.

"Hello, mo cher, I see you got yourself in trouble." It was Francis.

"Gilbert did. Why are here? We didn't call for help." She said between breaths as she continued to slay guards.

"You four were attracting too much attention that almost all the guards were going here. So I got worried. Antonio and Lovino are here as well."

She pushed off a guard and bent over to catch her breath as Francis covered her. There seem to be an endless number of guards. If this keeps up, they worried they won't make it. It was eight versus about a hundred.

_Well I might as well try_ (Name) thought to herself and charged forward. She sliced the guard on her right on his shoulder with her sword and leaped into the air, dodging as many incoming attacks as possible, before landing onto one of the unlucky guard's shoulder. She jabbed his neck with the butt of her sword and proceeded on to her next enemy.

She was about to attack an incoming guard, but was cut short as a force pushed her sideward. She grunted and fell, unable to support the weight. A guard was towering over her with his sword raised.

(Name) shut her eyes and prepared for her fate. She heard a grunt from the guard and a thud. She opened her eyes and revealed that Francis that saved her life.

They had no time to talk; the battle continued to rage forward. They merely nodded to each other, knowing that they would have each other's back.

Miraculously, they manage to defeat them. And now the room was quiet, only their heavy breaths were heard and the moaning of the guards who were all on the floor. Blood continued to ooze from the guards' wounds, but they had been quite carefully during battle, making sure none of the wounds are fatal. Like the guards, they sustained some damage as well. All of them had cuts and bruises all over their bodies. Some of them still had blood dripping out of their mouth, showing the extent of their wounds.

"Gil… bert… I hope… you got the… mirror at least…" Antonio said between short breaths.

"J-ja… I do." Gilbert nodded weakly and pointed at the small velvet pouch, which was peeking out of his pants.

Their eyes widened when they heard the echoing clapping of someone. The turned their heads to the source of it and saw nothing bur darkness.

"Lovely, just absolutely splendid." A dark voice was heard from a distant "I never expected eight men would be able to take down about a hundred men. You eight must really be something. You caused me enough trouble, now hand over the clue!"

A silhouette of a man was seen as he slowly walked over form the dark to reveal himself. A man with blonde hair and deep emerald eyes smirked devilishly. It was none other than the ruler of the seven seas, Arthur Kirkland. Francis, Gilbert and Antonio widened their eyes as they fear what was worse was about to come.

* * *

**AN: Longest chapter, evah! Lite actually enjoyed it if I wrote long chapters... well, its tiring! This is so far the longest chapter I have ever made. But it was worth it :) I had fun in this chapter~ especially when reader gets to meet Arthur again.**

**oEnvy: Really? Thanks! I love Pirate!Hetalia so much so why not make a fic out of it?**

**SoulEaterRomanceFan: Thanks for the follow ^^ and I like dark!Kiku~ he;s just so... sexy. Is that wrong?**

**So! Childhood friends reunited! They meet again, after six long years, they finally see each other again. Who will recognize who? And will reader find out who 'Lance' actually is? And will Arthur fin dout who 'Cecilia' actually is? Find out in the next chapter. See you there and please review! They make me smile C:**


	8. It is on

Chapter 8

It's on

**_Disclaimer: I don't own APH, I only own this story._**

**AN: Hiya, thanks for waiting! Gosh, I'm so slow in updating DX the only reason is of course... school. Been keeping me buys with all the tests and homework teh teachers keep on giving me! This chapter is going to be most action and fighting... and some appearance of a certain someone... well anyways, enjoy~**

**Note: this chapter is purely in third person POV. I hope you don't get confused, because Lite was. Kesesese... on with the story...**

* * *

Arthur scanned his eyes over the eight men before him, his hand gripping his sword ready to attack anytime. The Briton's eyes widened as soon as he realized that he recognized the seven men. He never expected for _them_ to become pirates. For him, this was just… priceless. Slowly, a smile tugged on his lips as he slowly walked to them. And to make it even better the girl he has been searching for is actually with them! No, they are most likely her comrades.

"Well, well, well… look who we have here…" a smirk formed on his lips.

The seven of them were giving them the bitterest look they can give. Even Feliciano tried. Arthur shifted his emerald orbs to Francis and scoffed. He walked over him and stood in front of the Frenchman. He looked at him from tip to toe.

"Look at you, still flashy and fancy as always aren't you? Never change do you, Francis?" he chuckled dryly "Tell me, did you become a pirate so that you can get more girls to play around with? Because trust me it actually works."

"Non. I'm here to protect and assist ma petite soeur." Francis said slowly keeping his guard, aware that Arthur could attack him anytime he wants.

"Oh, so this lassie here…" Arthur pointed his sword at (Name) "is you little sister? I must say… she is quite the trouble." He began to take small steps towards her.

"Oui. She is the girl all of us have promised to protect." Francis let his eyes follow Arthur, watching his every move carefully.

(Name) frowned when she saw Arthur point the sword at her. Who the hell did he think he was? She opened her mouth to say something but was hushed by Francis. She raised her brow, confused on why Francis did that. Arthur's smirk grew wider as he leaned over (Name) a little.

"What a protective brother you have." (Name) narrowed her eyes at him itching to just stab her sword right into his chest. Arthur chuckled and turned on his heels "I see you have learned how to treat a woman properly, bloody French. Well excluding (Name) of course. Now that I think about it, why are the three of you here? Where is (Name)?"

(Name) widened her eyes in surprise. She well knows that he never met him before and she was pretty sure that she told him that her name was Cecilia, not (Name). She glanced over the others non-verbally asking them what was going on and whom he was. Gilbert was about to speak out something until Francis took a step forward and put on a sad face.

"She…. She's gone…" he said barely audible "to a better place."

Everyone's raised their brows. Ludwig quickly covered Feliciano's mouth, Gilbert and Antonio gawked and stared at Francis who was letting out crocodile tears; Typical Francis, always being overly dramatic. (Name) glanced at Arthur who was wide-eyed. Arthur tightened his grip at his sword and lunged at Francis in the speed of a cheetah, placing his sword right at the nape of his neck. The others quickly got ready for a fight.

"You… you bloody liar. I don't believe it." Arthur hissed. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"I'm not lying. She right up there watching all of us. And I'm sure she is seeing us right now." Francis scoffed.

"Bloody piece of shit!" Arthur's voice echoed throughout the room "I know you are hiding her from me! Tell me where she is or I will make sure you don't walk out here alive."

"Let him go!" (Name) started "I thought you are here for me."

Arthur shifted his eyes to her and pushed Francis making him lose his balance a little. He swished his sword across and dragged it on the floor.

"You are right. I am here for you. Why waste my time on him huh?" Arthur stopped right in front of her "Now, why don't we make it all easy? Just hand me the clue and I will walk away." He stretched out his arms.

(Name) chuckled and shook her head. She leaned in to him and got her mouth closer to his left ear.

"Fuck you." She whispered into his ears.

Arthur growled and brought his sword up to swing it across her head. (Name) ducked down but got hit on the right on her chin by his knee. (Name) tumbled backwards as Antonio quickly ran to her.

"One more time. Hand me the clue and no one gets hurt."

"Go die, limey." (Name) spat.

Arthur's line of patience snapped, being the bad tempered person he is, he charged towards her only to get his sword blocked by Antonio's giant axe.

"You really hurt girls, amigo? How low." Antonio was fighting to push him off.

"Well, long time no see, Antonio. Has been quite some time hasn't it?"

"And unfortunately this time, I don't think I'll be too friendly with you." Antonio gave a powerful push succeeding in pushing Arthur backwards "Guys! Get back! I can take him."

"Nein, no way in hell. I got some business with this arschloch." Gilbert growled.

"So do I." Francis nodded.

"No problem. You three can take me at once. Or you all can take me at once." Arthur said boastfully.

"Is that your pride talking or you just want to kill yourself?" Gilbert asked rhetorically "the awesome me will kill you and everyone's burden will be lifted up."

"Speak for yourself." Arthur rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Artie! I searched everywhere! No sign of… it…" Alfred ran in and stopped when he saw the scene "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"Not at all. Come and join the fun." Arthur got into his stance.

Alfred looked at the men who were he was not so familiar with. Matthew gasped when he saw the American and clenched his fists. Oh how he wanted to strangle him to death right now. He did not even notice him! Matthew felt himself fuming but it was no time to mess around and start the fight. He knew that it would not end well if they started fighting. Arthur was fast, sly and strong. But then again, he was definitely outnumbered. They were a ticking time bomb to him. Especially when (Name) finds out what Arthur's surname is, that was it. Only God knows what she will do or become.

"Ar… tie?" (Name) muttered. It sounded so familiar to her but everything inside her mind was so foggy. '_not the time to think about those things!_'

"Right, I haven't introduced myself properly to the lady. I'm Arthur-"

"I don't need to know your name. It is not necessary to remember your name. It's a waste of my time and memory." (Name) said bitterly.

"I always knew you were a rude lass." Arthur charged towards her, swiftly dodging the others' attacks.

(Name) held up her swords just in time to trap Arthur's sword between hers. She gritted her teeth as she felt the great force Arthur was applying against her sword. She was buckled her knees and jumped back. She couldn't take it any longer. He was stronger than he looks. Arthur clicked his tongue and ducked avoiding the deadly axe that swung across him. He was planning on killing the woman first. He heard quite enough of her.

Gilbert joined the fight and aimed his sword to Arthur. Arthur swiftly dodged it and grabbed his wrist, pulling him and threw him to Antonio who caught him. Francis ran to him and aimed for his thigh. Arthur jumped and kicked him square on the face.

"My beautiful face!" Francis cried out and held his nose. (mood breaker)

"No one cares about your bloody face frog! And it's ugly!" Arthur made an attempt to slash Francis but got blocked by (Name)'s two swords.

Antonio held up his axe and swung it across Arthur. It was in the matter of millimeters that the axe sliced Arthur's chest. Arthur swooped under Antonio and quickly got up his feet. He kicked Antonio's back and held his sword clashing it with Gilbert's. Francis finally got over it and quickly took this chance to headlock Arthur and put his sword on his neck. Everything became silent. Alfred, who was fighting with Lovino and Ludwig even stopped. Matthew, he was just standing there ready to attack but no one really noticed him. Arthur gritted his teeth and hesitantly let his sword go making it clatter on the ground.

"Impressive…" he scoffed and raised his hands in surrender "Go ahead kill me. If you have the guts to that is." He smirked.

Francis tightened his grip on his sword as his hands started to shake. He tried, he really did but he couldn't. He loosened his grip a little giving Arthur the chance to elbow his gut. Arthur kicked Francis on sending him backwards. (Name) ran to him and ducked down to dodge his sword. Arthur spun around her, his sword pointed at her neck. Antonio slid his legs across Arthur's making him fall. Alfred saw this and ran to him. However, Matthew had enough.

"I'm your opponent!" he shouted.

"Who are you?" Alfred asked bluntly.

"Y-you… I will kill you!" Matthew fumed with anger as he charged towards him.

When Arthur was about to get up, Gilbert held him down and placed his sword on his neck. Arthur didn't move and glanced over the sight of the velvet that stuck out of Gilbert's pants. He smirked and slowly got ready and bent his legs more. Since Gilbert's strength had been wringed out from the previous battle, it was pretty easy for Arthur to throw Gilbert over him with his bare knees. And when the sword was away from his neck he quickly grabbed the velvet. Barely getting a hold of it, he got onto his feet quickly but Francis slapped his hand. The mirror flew out of his clumsy hold.

Meanwhile, Matthew was fighting everything he had with Alfred. Ludwig and Lovino assisted him but Alfred has an inhuman strength. The boy was incredibly strong! Does quality beat quantity? Feliciano kept on waving the white flag he took out from his pocket hoping it will bring peace. But sorry Feliciano, that won't happen this time. Alfred dodged every attack easily. Arthur had definitely trained him very well.

And there begins the race to get hold with the velvet pouch. The four of them pounced to where the pouch was supposed to be laying. There was nothing. They got up in confusion before a voice was heard.

"Looking for this?" a familiar voice echoed throughout the room.

This made everyone stop what they were doing and looked up. Up on the curtain, was a man seated while swinging the pouch back and forth. He wore a traditional samurai costume and his jet-black hair was shining as the moonlight reflected upon it. His dark brown eyes seem to glint as he hopped down smoothly without any sound.

"So, I was asked for help… they said there are eight men making such a disturbance late in the night. You shouldn't do that you know… neighbors can't have proper sleep." The man unsheathed his katana. Only his moonlight reflected katana was seen by them "They gave a me a job; terminate those who have destroyed half of the palace. And my job; obtain the mirror."

He revealed himself and it surprised everyone, except for Feliciano, leaving them baffled. Feliciano smiled brightly and waved at him.

"Ve~ Kiku! Are you here to help us?" Feliciano chirped and ran to him to give him a nice hug.

"Feli! Don't!" Gilbert tried to stop him but t was too late.

Kiku held his katana up making Feliciano halt in front of him, the sword holding the nape of his neck. Feliciano swallowed hard and slowly stepped back eventually tumbling backwards. He was too surprised on what who he always seen as a friend did.

"Kiku… why?" Ludwig muttered out.

"Gomenasai, Feliciano-kun and Ludwig-san. But as time passes by, I changed and got a better job than being an artist." Kiku walked passed him "Now I shall terminate you all."

Everyone got into their stance. Now, Kiku was everyone's target since he has the mirror now. Figures that Murphy's Law would kick in now. (Name) sighed. She will have to save all the questions she has in her mind for later because it was on now.

* * *

**AN: sorry if its not really long... I needed to stop there! What? At least its not much of a cliffhanger... Gott, writting a battle with four people is so hard! I suck at the description of fighting, but I managed to pull it off this time. And yes, Lite did not edit so much whoch means I didn't mess it up! She like only changed three sentences? Hehe~ I'm getting better~ **

**Reviews:**

**Toolazytologin(guest): Of course~ Iggy is the best pirate evah! But I still love Prussia more (is a Prussia fangirl) but anyways, yes Alfie is sweet~ Or maybe I make him sweet... And danke! I do my best to entertain the readers. Cliffhangers are my best friend ;) I'm glad your addicted to this fic(sounds so wrong). Thanks for reading!**

**Rose of Salkara: Well, even Prussia has the times when he is down... he has feelings you know... Prussia is always awesome, mind you. Captain Kirkland is not England, I doubt that a seven year old can become a pirate and destroy the whole village. Just nu-uh! He is actually the father of Arthur. Of course England is not stupid enough to kill the one he loves! **

**loveisil: You mean Arthur? And yes, you can fight. You have to. And looks like I chose the right first mate. I had a dilemma if I shoudl give Matthew to Francis instead... **


	9. Full out battle

Chapter 9

Full out battle

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. _**

**AN: How's it going lovelies? Or bro... I dont know... Here's the new chapter! yay! Thanks for waiting, and please enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

"Ten against one…" Kiku mused. "I suppose this is a little unfair. But since your opponent is me, I think it is quite even."

"Kiku, why are you even doing this?" Ludwig asked, his hand still holding his sword.

"Why?" Kiku scoffed "Isn't it obvious? I am after the treasure as well."

"Kiku, aren't we friends? Please don't hurt us!" Feliciano pleaded.

Feliciano took a step forward towards the Japanese man and before Ludwig could stop him, Kiku hit Feliciano on the cheek with the butt of his katana. Feliciano fell down as he held his now bruised cheek. He looked at his used to be friend in horror and teary eyes. He couldn't believe that this was really Kiku, his Japanese friend that was always stoic and quite. It was just impossible! He got up slowly and made an attempt to talk to Kiku again but was pulled away by Ludwig.

"He is not Kiku! Kiku is not like that!" Feliciano cried out while struggling against the strong grip of the German.

"I know it's hard to believe… but things have changed. He is no longer the Kiku you used to know."

Suddenly there was a clash of metal. Arthur's emerald eyes met Kiku's dark brown ones. Their swords were rubbing against each other as the both tried to overpower each other. Much to Arthur's surprise and displeasure, Kiku was strong. Very strong. Despite his rather slender figure. Kiku smirked and gave increased his strength on the katana making Arthur buckle his legs. After much struggle, he finally gave up and jumped back.

"I underestimated you, Kiku." A smirk crept up Arthur's lips and he stood up straight "Let's get serious now, shall we?"

Arthur looked at Alfred and nodded at him. The both charged at Kiku at the same time as Kiku got ready for their attack. Alfred unsheathed his sword along the way and ducked down to aim for Kiku's legs while Arthur aimed for his neck. Friend or foe, if the person is on his way, he will kill whoever it was. Kiku simply ducked down as his hand grabbed Arthur's and his other hand grabbed Alfred's neck and push him on the floor.

(Name) took this chance to attack. She swiftly dodged the katana that slashed across her head and thirsted her sword to Kiku's gut. Kiku quickly turned right and raised his foot to kick her harshly on the neck. (Name) grunted and fell on the floor hard. Her body was already badly hurt and the pain made it worse. His made everyone charge to Kiku, even Felciano. He didn't want to believe that the man in front of him was really Kiku, he just pretended like he was some stranger.

Even when three words were aiming at him, Kiku managed to doge them all easily. For him, this was like taking a candy from a baby or a walk in the park. Kiku got into his stance and decided that it was his turn to attack. He slashed his sword on Feliciano knowing he was the weakest. Ludwig slid in front of Feliciano and didn't get enough time to attack move back, which resulted on a slice on his chest. Blood seeped through his beige vest, which was torn. Ludwig fell on his knees and hissed at the terrible pain on his chest. Literally.

"WEST!" Gilbert yelled out when he saw his beloved little brother hurt.

Gilbert growled and glared at Kiku as he ran to him letting a war cry. He aimed his sword at him. Kiku dodged it easily while Gilbert quickly elbowed Kiku pretty hard on his back. Antonio smashed hid fist on Kiku's face and he made sure he broke his nose. Blood dripped down from Kiku's nose, which was now purple.

"I underestimated you…" Kiku swung his katana "Looks like I will need to put effort into this."

"Heh, you were not serious? I didn't even try just now!" Gilbert scoffed.

"Gilbert, this is not the time." Antonio shook his head.

Catching him off guard, Kiku grabbed Gilbert's wrist and flipped him over his back, letting him fall on his back. Kiku raised his katana and thrusted it to Gilbert. Luckily, Antonio was fast enough to block it with his axe. The other six charged to Kiku getting the feeling to just kill him. Feliciano was too worried about Ludwig even though he kept on saying he would be fine. Kiku easily slid through their attacks and crashed Arthur's and Alfred's head together, slicing Francis on the arm, and practically hurting each of them. Gilbert pounced on him but Kiku quickly rolled over making him who was pinning Gilbert.

Feliciano seeing that Gilbert was in trouble, tackled Kiku with all his strength. Kiku landed rather painfully and grunted slightly from impact. He swiftly recovered and sent a kick to the dazed Feliciano. Feliciano was sent flying. Luckily Gilbert had already gotten back to his feet and had managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

(Name) parried her sword with Kiku's katana for a second before jumping back. As she had witnessed, Kiku was no joke. Getting the pouch mirror would be more troublesome than expected. She lunged at him and tried to slash his chest. He dodged with ease and jabbed the back of his katana into her gut. She yelped in pain and stumbled backwards. (Name) clutched her stomach and glared at Kiku.

"What's wrong? I expected better from-" He sidestepped away from Antonio's upcoming axe. "Whoops." He teased.

(Name) ran forward and slashed Kiku who was momentarily busy with Antonio. Her sword made contact and blood quickly oozed from Kiku's clothes.

"Arrgh!"

Seeing the time was right, she maneuvered her swords and knocked the katana out of his hands. She smirked; Kiku was now defenseless. With all her might, she rammed both the butts of her swords into Kiku's gut. He was knocked out in an instant. She searched his pockets and found what she was looking for. The mirror.

(Name) panted as she squeezed the velvet pouch on her hands. Her legs felt like jelly now making her fall on her knees. Everyone was on the floor, out of breath and exhausted. Arthur used his sword to help him stand and made his way slowly to (Name). Gilbert noticed this and used whatever he had left to get up as well and weakly attack Arthur. Arthur kicked Gilbert with a grunt sending him falling back down. His attention was now focused on (Name) who was still trying to regain her energy.

"Bloody woman… give me… the pouch!" Arthur forced his legs to run towards (Name).

With her blurry vision, (Name) managed to grab her sword and raised it to the direction of Arthur. It was all she could do. Arthur wrapped his fingers around (Name)'s neck and pinned her on the floor. (Name)'s eyes went wide when she saw Arthur raise his sword. Her eyes were now filled with worry and _fear_. She looked into Arthur's emerald eyes and her head began to hurt. Inside her head was a blurry vision of something… _someone._ The others got on their feet as quick as their body could even though they barely had energy left in their bodies.

"(Name)!" she heard the others cry out.

Suddenly a clang was heard. Arthur just froze there, eyes wide. Seems like he let his sword slip out of his grip as he weakly got up and took steps away from (Name). Francis took this chance to knock him out by hitting him hard on the back of his neck. No, he didn't want to kill him. (Name) would not be happy if she knew Arthur Kirkland was dead. Gilbert did the same thing to Alfred and it was time for them to escape and run away.

They immediately made their way back to their ships deciding it was best for them to move as fast as possible. Everyone was on their beds covered up with bandages.

* * *

~Arthur's POV~

_There she was. Finally I could see (Name) again. My dearest (Name). How much I missed her. (Name) was standing there under the tree of our memories, waving at me with that beautiful smile of hers. I smiled softly and ran to her. I embraced her to a hug and muzzled my head against the crook of her neck._

"_I knew you were still alive… I never believed those bloody gits." I whispered into her ears._

"_You left me…" I heard her say quietly._

"_I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I can-" I felt a sharp pain on my abdomen._

_I placed my hand on my abdomen to find out that a sword has penetrated through it. I felt the blood staining my blouse as I looked at (Name). She was looking at me with such cold eyes as she pulled her sword back._

"_(Name)…" I croaked out as I fell on my knees._

_My vision got blurry and the last thing I saw was her mouth moving, saying something…_

I cracked my eyes open and shot up. I looked around me and found myself in my own cabin. My temples were beading sweat and when I got up, that was when a sharp pain surged through my whole body. Right, I just went on a bloody battle. I brought my hand to my face and covered my eyes trying to regain on what happened. Now I remember. We were fighting for the clue until Kiku showed up and honestly, I had to thank that they were there. Or I wouldn't think I would be able to take him down myself. And then, he finally got defeated and bollocks! I was put unconscious and they took the clue with them!

And then….there was something else… her eyes. When I looked into her eyes, (Name)'s face came up in my head. Yes, that was why I dropped my sword… Just who is she? And… is (Name)… really gone? I never expected myself to still have feelings. I thought after years of murder and crime, my heart would close and lock itself forever. But (Name) is really a special girl. She doesn't deserve to be forgotten, even for me. It is amazing how I still have feelings for her.

I looked at my hand for a while and closed my eyes. Somehow, my heart feels a little calm at that moment even though I just lost and found out that the girl I still love for years was gone. I cracked my eyes open and clenched my fists.

"(Name) is gone? What bullshit." I scoffed.

(Name) is not weak. She is strong. Wherever she is, I'm going to find her. And I exactly know how… a smirk tugged on my lips as I let out a dark chuckle. Looks like I will have to keep on following those bloody gits for the treasure and her. The frog was hiding something. No one lies to Arthur Kirkland.

* * *

~Your POV~

I sat on my bed staring into space, still wondering why that guy didn't kill me in the spot. What came into him until he dropped his sword and get off of me? My thoughts were drifted to when I saw his eyes and the vision popped into my mind. Now that I think of it carefully, I was pretty sure that it was a small boy. Blonde hair… his face was impossible to see. It was really blurry. But I also heard faint giggles in my head when I saw the vision… and a sound of a little girl.

And then something finally hit me. Was that… something from my past? I tried to remember if there was anyone else in my life. To be specific a blond boy. Is that boy even close to me? My head hurt and that was wen I stopped trying. I perked up when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Matthew stepped inside and closed the door slowly. He was covered in bandages just like I was.

"Where is the mirror?"

"I-its with Francis."

I nodded and sighed. We needed to go to the cave next if I remembered correctly.

"Are we heading to the cave?"

"Yes. We will be there when the sun comes up." Matthew nodded.

I hummed and nodded. Things were getting hard and tiring. We would only have around three hours of rest until we have to make the next move.

* * *

**AN: I loved the fighting part. I really had to picture them in my mind first before typing them down. Hoped you liked it and I have to say this story is not easy to write. Even sometimes I get confused myself XD but I wrote the plot in my phone so no worries! And i also have a little announcement. Starting from now, updates will be slow! I'm moving houses and exams are coming up real soon. So the best I can do is one chapter per week. And then if its the exams, I won't be updating at all since I won't be touching my lappie or computer. **

**Reviews: **

** : Of course i will make another one...**

**MapleDumplings: your pen name is making me hungry... anyways! Yes, Matthew should! The image of Matthew using a ninja costume just cracks me up! And yes I tend to make Francis sissy when it comes with his face. I agree! Feliciano is adorable! Well not really... or maybe he is denying the fact that reader is gone? Aaaaah~ or is he?**

**Guest: Danke, danke!**

**loveisil: I'm no better in those kind as well ^^ i just practice a lot! **

**And thats all for this chapter. What will happen next? What happens with Kiku? Will he chase them again or not? Find out in the next chapter! Oh don't forget t leave a review~**


	10. The chase begins

Chapter 10

The chase begins

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot._**

**AN: I'm finally back! Thank you so much for waiting you guys! I passed all my exams so i'm happy :D and never thought using the plot from this fic(including the names) will gte me the highest mark in narrative writting XD Maybe I'll post it up... its pure fanfic so yeah... **

* * *

_Who actually was the pirate from before? How in the world did he know my name? I don't know him yet he claimed that he knew me… no, wait, he didn't know my name was (name), he knew me as Cecilia. Was he referring to someone else with the same name as mine? Or was he really referring to me? Is there a connection between my past? Does that man actually take part in my memories of my childhood life? Just… who is he? _(Name) thought loudly to herself as he laid on the bed her in cabin. She had so many questions yet she just didn't have time to get the answer to them. Maybe they would eventually be answered themselves. But the thought of the pirate(Arthur) was a part of her childhood made her very curious.

She wanted to ask Francis about this so badly but now was not the time. They all must be resting from the previous battle. Even she didn't feel like getting up from the comfortable bed. She'll have to be patient and wait for the time.

(Name) could still feel the aches all over her body. She would probably have to go out with all the bandages wrapping her body. It was probably longest battle she had ever had in her life not mention her opponents were countless for the guards and very powerful as regards to Arthur and Kiku. She always had the feeling that Kiku was hiding something. His eyes tell it all.

She had only around one half hours until their ships arrive at the forest where the cave was. And her only fear was that the crews, they boys and herself won't have enough rest and time for their wounds to recover. Moreover they had to move fast since there would be a high possibility that Arthur or Kiku would still be after them. Or even worse, both of them. And God knows that they might bring a whole army with them.

She had to admit: this was not easy _at all_. All she could do right now was hope some kind or miracle or maybe she would get some kind of potion like in games and her health and energy would be completely restored again. How she wished those kind of potions exist. Life would be much easier that way.

She closed her eyes and decided a little nap won't hurt. In fact, it would help restore her energy. Slowly, she drifted off to her own dreamland.

Francis was in his own cabin, eyes wide open. He was sitting on bed with his hand covering his face. He never expected for Arthur pop up like that right in front them. He was absolutely certain that sooner or later, (name) would come to him and question about Arthur. The worst part is that he mentioned her name and said that he knew her. And Francis had no idea how to explain that to (name) . At least he could hope that Arthur would believe his lie.

What would he say? Just simply say he is her childhood friend and also her lover? A simple; he is your love that left you when you lost your memories and who has gone against us? And how if she asks his name? A simple he is Arthur Kikrland? That is just suicide(not literally).

Francis sighed loudly. Things were getting complicated and its just the beginning. No doubt thing will be more complicated than this. But at least he could let that problem aside for a while since he knows that everyone would probably be worrying about the next move. They needed rest and the energy to fight again, incase Arthur or Kiku shows up again.

He flopped on the bed and took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He thought it would be better if he get some rest even though it was only for an hour. Better than nothing right?

Gilbert and Antonio were experiencing the same thing as Francis. They were confused on what to tell (name) if she asks tem who Arthur actually was and how he could know her name. None of them expected to meet him this quick.

* * *

Kiku fluttered his eyes open and tried to get up. A stinging pain surged through his body when he moved his muscle. He could have sworn that he broke a bone or got stabbed somewhere as he felt his clothes damp and wet. He could taste the coppery taste of blood from his mouth. He weakly sat up while holding his abdomen with one hand. He could not believe he actually got beaten up that bad. Never in his life he was injured that bad. He moved his hand weakly to his katana which was stained with blood.

He looked around his surroundings and found out that he none of his opponents were around anymore. With the help of his katana, Kiku got up and stood on his feet again. Even though he was not balanced and his whole body was trembling. He staggered his way outside He needed that medicine his brother always made. And he needed it quick.

After getting a ride to his house, where the driver was more than scared at seeing him, he rummaged his whole house to get that special ointment his brother always made for the whole family. He wished Yao was around now, he could definitely help Kiku with his wounds.

"Here it is…" Kiku's hand quickly worked on the cork which covered the small bottle with some dark green liquid inside it.

Not waiting any further, he applied the ointment on all his wounds not caring if the pain doubled. He was used to all the pain he got from his past battles. And it was really effective! The pain decreased greatly and he could at least walk properly without getting himself feel like being stabbed again and again. And with that, he quickly made his way to the forest.

* * *

"We need to move faster! Work on that bloody wankers!" Arthur yelled.

Arthur was on the deck tapping his foot impatiently. He did not care that his body was still wrapped with all the bandages, he needed to make sure his ship was moving fast enough to catch up with (Name)'s.

A smirk lingered his lips when he remembered that he was taking a shortcut to the forest. _(Name) and her bloody friends would definitely take the normal route right? They don't know the seven seas like I do afterall. _It was only an hour before his ship arrives at the forest.

This time, he was determined to take those three boys as hostage and kill the bloody girl. Why did he want to take the three boys as hostage? He wanted to make them take him to (Name) of course. Arthur Kirkland gets everything he wants.

* * *

"Get ready to port!" Matthew announced to the crew members before knocking on (Name)'s cabin to inform that they were arriving.

(Name) put on her blouse and coat back, making sure her twin swords were in hand. She walked out and the forest was on sight. It was completely covered with trees and it seemed like darkness was the only thing that was in there.

As their ships port, (Name) made sure that she took some ointment with her in case something happens. The forest was not small and she knew that they would need food later on since they hadn't eaten for hours. This is where their wilderness instincts have to take over. She just hoped that the cave was not too far from the light.

All of them set foot on the sandy ground and observed the surrounding for a second. When seen closely, (Name) was right. It was really dark inside the forest. Like it was night time.

"Get lamps. Make sure to bring extra candles." Francis instructed.

This time, they were bringing the whole crew with them. Only four or five crews were asked to guard the ship and were given a signaling device, which only consist of a small gun powder and match sticks. They will have to set up a little explosion if there was emergency.

While getting ready with the lamps, the worse thing happened. They spotted Arthur's ship not afar form the shore. (Name) cursed under her breath and quickly lit up the candle before putting it inside the lamp case(?).

"Quick! Quick! Quick!" Antonio yelled to everyone.

After getting a few lamps lit, they quickly ran deep into the forest. The location of the cave was quickly forgotten and their only aim now was to get as far as possible from Arthur since they were in no shape of fighting again.

Arthur chuckled darkly as his ship ported. He already had everything ready, including the location of the cave.

"Looks like this is going to be a walk in the park…" he hummed to himself as he went down to the ground "Let's begin the chasing of cat and mouse shall we?"

* * *

**AN: argh, short chapter with a lot of line page breaks DX I'm sorry editor's at Japan and I need to ask stuff so this is what i could do! I hope you enjoyed it though... So who's ready to find out if 21 December, which is also my birthday, is the end of the world? I hope its not cuz its my birthday and i worked really hard on this! Oh well, i cant decide things...**

**reviews:**

**Neeky-chan: I did my best and i passed everything so im happy:)**

**ryuketsuki: thanks for waiting :3 i didnt ace the exams but i passed so... heheh...**

**loveisil: I kept on thinking about updating when doing my exams XD**

** : I update when i can so please be patient ^^. Thanks for waiting anyway.**

**Simplicity-Shitsuboku: Yep XD so many anger! You will found out why he left... soon. Mattie is an awesome spy :) thats why i gav ehim the job. You're so awesome! Even i didnt know about that before! Iggy kbnows half of the truth though...**

**thats all for now! I hope you have a great day and i will enjoy my holiday~ leave a review ne? neee? Onegai?**


	11. Found her

Chapter 11

Found her

"Everyone split up. Find the cave as fast as you can!" (Name) ordered. "Stay vigilant and make sure you are not caught by Arthur or his crews!"

Everyone nodded and got into groups of four before going separate ways. (Name) went with Francis, Lovino (he didn't want to go with Antonio) and Feliciano. There were around thirteen groups in total and (Name) was taking the risk of sending as many men she could. Arthur would most probably catch most of them. She had to make sure she gets to the cave before Arthur does.

The four were cautiously walking on the grassy ground as quiet as they could, eyes never stopping to wander around. Arthur could be watching them, they would never know. When Francis heard a small rustle of the leaves, he stopped (Name) and the others from walking further. (Name) instantly unsheathed her swords and scanned her surrounding. Her attention was quickly gone to Feliciano when she saw a man thrusting his sword towards Feliciano.

"Behind you, Feliciano!" (Name) kicked Feliciano's side and stopped the man's sword with one of her sword.

Feliciano stumbled down but was caught by his brother. The man jumped back and lunged his sword at (Name). She easily dodged it and tripped him, placing the tip of her sword on the man's neck in a split second.

"Arthur's crew?" (Name) asked curtly.

The man didn't speak a single word.

"I'll take that as a yes." (Name) applied more pressure on the neck, intending to kill him.

"(Name), cher, don't you think you should spare him?" Francis placed his hand on her shoulder.

"He may pose a threat to us, Francis. Its better to play safe. Besides… he doesn't look like he minds being killed…"

"Kill me, you bloody wench. I don't even think you have the guts to do it don't you?" the man smirked.

"Wrong." (Name) pinned him down with her foot and raised her sword, aiming to cut off his neck.

Even before the sword could reach the neck, another sword blocked (Name)'s movement.

"Yo, woman, you're pretty feisty aren't ya?" a loud, obnoxious voice range throughout (Name)'s ears.

(Name)'s eyes looked up to meet a pair of bright sapphire orbs looking back at her. He looked so familiar. His cowlick was the thing that made her remember who he was. It was the man she had bumped onto when Arthur was chasing her. She could have sworn she thought he was Matthew for a while there.

"So you're one of Arthur's crew…" (Name) withdrew her sword and held her stance.

"Yeah! I'm Artie's first mate! And adopted brother!" Alfred grinned "Alfred F. Jones! Nice to meet ya! And 'sup Francey-pants!"

"Alfred…." Francis nodded slightly as he unsheathed his sword.

"So what's this babe's name huh? Wait, it was (Name) am I right?" Alfred laughed loudly "I think Arthur mentioned about you once or twice…"

(Name) furrowed her brows and glanced at Francis who gave her a nervous look.

"He what?" (Name) asked cautiously.

"Yeah, he mentioned something 'bout you once or twice. He said something about a friend of his from his childhood. But whenever I ask about you, he doesn't want to talk about it." He shrugged "But I don't think he knows your name yet… or maybe he does? I'm kinda confused about all this."

_What?_ (Name) frowned and charged at Alfred suddenly. Alfred easily dodged it and laughed as Francis thrust his sword towards him. Lovino and Feliciano dealt with the man from before.

* * *

Arthur kicked the limp body lying on the ground. He sighed, stretching out his arms. He had once again killed the third group he ran into. He was growing bored of fighting with all these, as he claimed, weak men. He perked up when he heard a familiar clashing of metals.

"I wonder who it is…" he smirked and began to make his way to the source of the disturbance.

"Heh, you're better than I thought!" Alfred chuckled as he held a small scratch on his side, which (Name) had managed to make "Well, I was going easy on ya since you're a girl! Guess can't do that anymore huh?"

Alfred charged to her and tripped her when she was off guard. Francis caught her and swung his sword across Alfred. Alfred sidestepped and elbowed Francis's gut earning a grunt from him as he fell back. (Name) grabbed Alfred's collar and aimed her sword right on Alfred's chest. Alfred grabbed (Name)'s collar and banged his forehead hard on (Name)'s.

(Name) yelped and fell back, holding her forehead, which had a forming bruise on it. Even a little blood was seeping out from it. God his head was like a rock. Lovino and Feliciano charged towards Alfred with their hands joined together.

"Fratello! I don't think this will work!" Feliciano whined.

"Shut up! We can't possibly defeat this bastard with our swords!" Lovino snapped and stopped in front of Alfred.

The other man was long dead now. Alfred burst out in laughter when he saw Lovino and Feliciano holing hands together.

"Now that's cute! You guys like brothers? Twins? I have a twin too!" Alfred laughed.

"Shut up you bastard!" Lovino growled "Feli!"

Feliciano nodded and the both began to mumble something in Italian, which no one could comprehend. A strange light glowed from their hands as everyone's eyes widened. Francis and (Name) had no idea they could use magic. Alfred was not fast enough to avoid the ray of light coming towards him. All he could do was to hold up his sword hoping it would block it off.

Alfred shut his eyes closed and opened it again slightly when he didn't feel anything. In front of him was a smaller figure.

"Artie! Dude! You okay?!" Alfred yelled out and shook Arthur.

"I'm perfectly fine." Arthur smirked; his right hand stretched out with smoke coming out of it "I'm surprised that you have someone who can use magic as well, Frog."

"Impossible! How did you block it with your bare had?!" Lovino furrowed his brows, surprised on Arthur's actions.

"Veh! Fratello! H-he dispersed the magic easily!" Feliciano trembled and hid behind his brother.

"You mustn't forget that I use black magic, Alfred." Arthur chuckled and turned to (Name) "We meet again."

"Oh hey, Artie! You remember the times you talked about this girl named (Name)?" Alfred said out loud.

Francis instantly punched Alfred and began a battle with him. Arthur clicked his tongue and unsheathed his sword, quickly aiming it at Francis. (Name) trapped Arthur's sword between hers and kicked him painfully at the gut.

"Bloody woman… it reminds me that I still need to kill you." Arthur hissed at the pain and made a quick move on his sword.

"Feliciano! Lovino! Go find the cave! Get the mirror from Francis!" (Name) yelled while blocking all Arthur's attacks.

The brothers nodded as Francis threw them a pouch. They fumbled for it and dashed off. Alfred took the moment of Francis's throwing the pouch to hit him on the head with the butt of his sword, causing Francis to fall unconscious.

(Name) glanced at Francis as she blocked Arthur's attack once again. She was getting worried on losing since the two men are very strong and she was definitely outnumbered.

"You gonna kill her, Artie?" Alfred asked and prepared to attack.

"Of course!" Arthur growled and made an attempt to stab his sword right on her neck.

(Name) bend to the side but got tripped down by Alfred. Arthur quickly roughly placed the tip of his sword on (Name)'s neck, drawing a little blood. (Name) swallowed hard as she was not able to call fro help.

"Oh and what was it about (Name)?" Arthur asked.

"Dude! Didn't you know her name is (Name)?" Alfred laughed and pointed at (Name).

Arthur's eyes widened and he just froze. (Name) took this chance to roll to the side and got on her feet, raising her sword and pointing it at Arthur's neck.

"Who are you? Why do you know my name?" (Name) took steps forward as Arthur stepped back, holding his hands up.

"(Name)?" Arthur said barely in a whisper "That's your real name? Do you know me?"

"Answer me!" (Name) yelled.

"I heard yelling and saw a bright light, what- Francis!" Gilbert ran to the unconscious Francis frantically "What the hell happened here?! Scheiße! Arthur is here?!"

"Gilbert, tell me who this is! Why does he know my name!" (Name) glared at Arthur.

Gilbert swallowed hard and didn't speak. Alfred pulled Arthur and pointed his sword to (name).

"Look, I don't know who you are to Artie but you shouldn't abuse his feelings don't you?"

"Alfred, step aside."

"What? Why? What-"

"I said step aside!" Arthur pushed Alfred and tackled (Name) by surprise.

Gilbert ran to (Name) but Alfred came on his way. Arthur pinned (Name) down and held her two hands firm on the ground with one hand. (Name) continuously squirmed and tried to wriggle out of his grip but he was much too strong. Arthur unbuttoned the first few buttons of (Name)'s dress-shirt and his eyes widened at when he saw what was resting on her chest. It was the same oval, golden pendant that he gave years ago.

"Impossible…" he shook his head as (Name) blushed and struggled more "(Name)? Is that really you?"

"What on earth are you doing?!" (Name) yelled thrashing her legs around "Let me go you molester!"

Arthur pulled her up and hugged her tightly, making her surprised. (Name) scowled and pushed him roughly. She slapped him across the face and chopped Alfred on his neck before storming off. Her head was spinning and funny images were showing up. Her vision was a little blurred as her memories were becoming fuzzy.

Gilbert quickly slung Francis's arms around his shoulders and lifted him up, dragging him. He tried his best to catch up with (Name). Arthur was left flabbergasted while Alfred waved in front of the Brit's face.

* * *

~Your POV~

_What was that?! What in the world was that?! Why? Who? Why did he hug me and who is he? _My head was pounding as if it were being hit repeatedly. Weird flashes of images were showing up in my head.

"(Name)!" a boy's voice called out.

I looked around but there was no one. There was only Gilbert carrying Francis. No one else. Especially a little boy. When the pain became too intense, I was forced to close my eyes as my legs began to tremble. I held my forehead hoping it could ease the pain even a little. Gilbert dropped Francis and ran to me with worry.

"What's wrong? Are you alright? Were you hurt?" Gilbert looked around my body to see if there were any severe injuries.

"No… I'm fine." I managed to speak out.

I began to see things inside my head again. This time the picture was clear. I saw a little boy, perhaps the blonde boy that I saw not long before. He seemed to be pulling me so I couldn't see his face. He brought me to a big tree and the moment he turned around, it began to blur again. I couldn't see his face… or rather I couldn't remember what he looked like. I'm certain that that was a piece of my forgotten memories.

"(Name)!" Gilbert called out, snapping me out of my trance.

"I-I'm okay, let's go…" I stood up slowly and walked.

"Artie, dude, you under a spell or something?" Alfred slapped Arthur lightly.

Arthur blinked and shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry. Let's go." Arthur stood up.

"So? That really the girl you had been talking about?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Its hard to believe but I'm afraid so…" Arthur sighed "That pendant… it got to be her. So I was right… she is with the frog…"

"Are you still going to kill her?"

Arthur halted and stood silent for a while. "I don't know."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lovino and Feliciano were already at the cave. Apparently, Antonio's group was also there already.

"Big bro Antonio is there already!" Feliciano pointed at the Spaniard who grinned brightly when he saw them.

"Lovi!" Antonio waved his hand.

"Be quiet you idiot!" Lovino ran to him and hushed him.

"Oh, right…" Antonio said in a hushed tone "Where's (Name) and Francis?"

"They were caught in battle with the British bastard and his first mate." Lovino looked down a little "And Francis got knocked down… (Name) ordered us to go ahead…"

"Wh-what?" Matthew gasped. "I need to find them!"

"It would be best if we put faith in them and wait here." Ludwig stopped Matthew who was about to make a sprint.

Matthew reluctantly nodded and turned back.

"You two used magic didn't you?" Ludwig questioned. "Bruder went to the source of a light and asked the rest of the team to go ahead."

"Sí! We did! We had no choice!" Feliciano nodded "But Arthur also used magic to repel it!"

"That's expected." Antonio laughed a little remembering then times when Arthur used to bring along a book, which he said was spell book.

"What are we waiting for you idiots? Lets go find the next clue!" Lovino stormed inside the cave.

Antonio and Feliciano ran after him, bringing a lantern with them. The cave was almost pitch black if it weren't for the tiny holes on it, which allowed a little amount of light to light up the cave a little. Feliciano clung onto Ludwig, Lovino pretended to be brave but actually he was terrified right now. Four men waited outside the cave in case (Name) came.

Gilbert, Francis (who is still unconscious) and (Name) came to the cave not long after. The four men quickly assisted Gilbert on Francis while (Name) wasted no time and took a lantern, walking fast inside the cave.

"Wait for me!" Gilbert grabbed a lantern from one of the men and ran inside the cave to catch up with (Name).

"Gilbert, you have not answered my question yet. Who is this Arthur? Why does he know me?" (Name) asked while looking around for either her friends.

"Eh, uh he…" Gilbert bit his lower lip "He is your friend… I guess…"

"So why is he our enemy instead of our ally? Why didn't he meet me after the incident?" (Name) asked more questions.

"(Name), stop! You are asking me more and more even if I answered only one of them!" Gilbert groaned in frustration.

"Sorry… I just… I just want to get all these pieces together again." (Name) said flatly "Because I know there are still holes in my memory and you three didn't tell me _everything._"

"J-ja… I-I wanted to but it was for the best." Gilbert looked down in guilt.

"We should save this for later." (Name) held up her lantern and squinted her eyes "There they are."

Feliciano turned around as he heard (Name)'s voice and waved at her cheerfully "Over here!"

(Name) and Gilbert jogged towards them looked around.

"Have you gotten the next clue yet?" (Name) asked.

"No. This is a dead end already and we found nothing." Antonio shook his head, looking around once again.

"Impossible. There must be something." (Name) shook her head and searched around as well "Search once again!"

"Use the mirror, (Name)." (Name) froze when she heard the familiar voice.

* * *

**AN: I'm not available at the moment so Lite-chan is helping me post this chappie. Sorry for the long wait and inconvenience guys.**


	12. Captured

Chapter 13

Captured

**AN: Hello, guys! I'm back! Finally! A lot has happened these few weeks... and I finally get to update yay! Thanks a lot for waiting~ I won't babble too much here so enjoy!**

* * *

"Use the mirror, (Name)…" (Name) slowly turned her head towards the source of the voice and rested her gaze on the handsome features of Arthur.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," (Name) quickly unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Arthur.

Arthur didn't move. He just stood there, wearing an expression that (Name) couldn't read and one that Alfred has never seen. He was always looking as if he could kill anyone who even touches him but now, his eyes looked full of… emotions.

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of my sight before I personally castrate you with my sword," (Name) said coldly.

"Shouldn't you be thanking me, (name)? You used to say you're a lady right?" Arthur raised a brow.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Arthur, stop it." Gilbert snapped.

"Why didn't you tell me if you wanted to be a pirate?" Arthur asked.

"Arthur, its best if you-"

"And moreover, why do you want to kill me and go against me?" Arthur asked again.

"Shut your bloody mouth!" (Name) snapped "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh now you are going to act like you don't know me?"

"Enough! I never knew you! I remember nothing about you from my past!" (Name) screamed and tightened her grip on the sword.

"You… don't remember me?" Arthur looked like he have just been stabbed "You…. Really don't? Its me. You don't remember me?"

(Name) swallowed hard as a flash of image came into her mind. She felt her heart ache for a while as her head began to pound. The pain gradually became worse every second making her drop her sword. Gilbert quickly stood in front of her incase of Arthur's motives on attacking her.

"Gilbert, move aside…." Arthur said in a monotone voice.

"Nein. Piss off! Leave (Name) alone!" Gilbert glared at the Brit.

Without another word and with one swift move, Arthur punched Gilbert's jaw hard sending him flying to the rocky wall. (Name) was closing her ears trying to fight the pain in her head. Antonio and the Vargas brothers wasted no time to attack Arthur.

Arthur swiftly swept (Name) up and dodged all the attacks from the three. (Name) didn't struggle or made any attempt get out of Arthur's arms. She was staring to get images of her past again and as the same as before, it was a blur.

"(Name)! There's a caterpillar on your head!" a boy's voice said.

"What? Where?!" weird, why was she talking all by herself? And why is her body moving by its own will?

"Im just kidding! Relax, there's nothing on your head!" the boy laughed and reached up to her head to stroke it "You're hair is so soft…."

(Name)'s stomach fluttered as she felt her face heat up a little. _What is this? Why am I feeling like this? I cant see this boy clearly… where am i? I cant even move at my own free will…. Is this something from the past?_

"Th-thanks…." (Name) said shyly "Um, Arthur? You do know that tomorrow is-" _Arthur? What?_

"Your birthday? Yes I do. Of course I do." She could see the boy smile brightly "If not then what kind of friend am i?"

(Name) snapped her eyes open with a sharp gasp. She wanted to bring her hand to her head but something seems to be restraining it. Her brows knitted together when she felt her hands being tied with the familiar rough feeling of a rope. Her eyes quickly scanned around the room and she realized that she was somewhere unfamiliar.

_Impossible! I've been kept as hostage? No!_ She tried to break the rope with all her power but to no avail. Suddenly a figure emerged form the dark shadows. (Name) lips quickly turned to a frown when she saw the person in front of her.

"You're finally awake…." Arthur peered at (Name).

(Name) stood silent and continued to glare daggers at the other as she didn't give up the attempt of breaking herself free.

"Stop trying to break the rope. You're going to hurt your hands," Arthur's voice was surprisingly soft and soothing.

"Don't tell me what to do," (Name) snarled but finally stopped struggling.

"(Name), do you know who I am?" Arthur asked, his eyes filled with hope somehow. "Don't you remember me? Did you forget everything after that night?"

(Name) twitched when she heard 'that night'. Immediately, (Name) knew what night he was talking about. Was he involved in it?

"Who are you? You are an acquaintance of mine when I was younger aren't you?"

"Acquaintance? How cruel, (Name)…" Arthur chuckled and shook his head "You have really changed, (Name). I don't wish to reveal you the truth. I would like you figure it out yourself."

And with that, Arthur turned on his heel and went out. (Name) growled and sighed. It was embarrassing and a disgrace for her. All she could do right now was hope the next location in the safe hands of one of her friends.

Arthur leaned against the wooden door and slowly fell on the ground, rubbing his temples. This was worse than the day he had to fight against five ships all at once. He couldn't tell if he was happy with his victory or guilty. Yes, he caught the captain of his enemy but something inside him didn't like keeping her behind the bars.

"I'll see you later…" Arthur got back to his feet and strode away "Love."

"Is that it?" Antonio asked, his eyes locked on the small spot where the light shone.

"Must be it," Gilbert nodded and slowly traced his fingers on the gnarled surface of the cave.

Once he found a very thin opening on the rocky wall, he grabbed onto it and pulled it. To everyone's surprise it actually worked. The little part of the rocks actually came out and a small piece of rolled paper came fluttering down.

"Amazing! (Name) must be so happy when she finds out about this!" Feliciano grinned.

"Oui, but first, we must get her back before Arthur mentally destroys her…." Francis said.

"No time to waste then! Lets go!" Gilbert took the paper with him.

* * *

**AN: Hi, again... look, im so sorry for not updating for a long time D: updates will be slow now because i'm twice as busy i dont even know why. And plus... *cough*I'maddictedtoPersona*cough* cant even play at weekdays anymore! gaaah! hate this ._. i'm so happy i have no homework today thought there's a test...**

**Reviews(I wont reply all of em from now on. I'll just reply the ones that i think needs one)**

**Yaomai The Hedgehog: I'm so sorry! I'll fix em ASAP!**

**loveisil: I actually have two choices here and i dont know which to take...**

**KarkatVantas-CG-TC: No prob! You;re writting a book? ._. but thanks!**

**To all of you: THANK YOU THANKYOUTHANKYOU! I'm so happy that you guys read this chapter!**

**AN: So thats it for now... I hope you guys will wait for the next chapter patiently, yes i know its annoying to wait. I'll juts go study and hope i wont start getting plot bunnies again... So... WHO PLAYS PERSONA?! :D no one? alright...**


	13. I am 'the' Boy

Chapter 14

I am 'the' boy

**Disclaimer: Do i really need to post this on every chapter? I own nothing but the story/plot.**

**AN: Finally! An update! I actually did this without having Lite-chan giving me deadlines :D Somehow somewhat... this chapter is similar to Amnesia, the dating game not the horror game, which is very weird... But whateves! I'm so excited for the fact that I'm going to a school trip to Bali next week! Wait, we're getting out of topic here...**

**By looking at the title of this chapter... can you guess what will happen? *drumroll* the chapter ladies and gentlemen! Enjoy~**

* * *

(Name) was leaning on the brick wall racking her brain on ways to break free from the ropes that were restraining her hands. She mentally scolded herself for not keeping a pocket knife with her. She immediately stopped her actions when she heard the door open. (Name) struggled a little to get on her feet and walked towards the iron bars, taking a look at the visitor. Her (E/C) eyes met with a pair of bright sapphire ones.

"Hey, 'sup?" The cheery American gave her a toothy grin "(Name) right? Artie asked me to bring you up to the deck."

"I have no intentions to talk to him nor to see him," (Name) said flatly and turned on her heels to go back to the depressing corner.

"I'm sorry but Artie won't be happy if you don't listen to his orders. And an unhappy Artie is not the best thing in the world," Alfred unlocked the door of the cell and grabbed (Name)'s arm.

"Don't touch me!" (Name) jerked her arm away.

"Then, come with me," Alfred nodded his head towards the opened door.

"Why don't you ask him to come here instead?" (Name) said stubbornly "If he wants to talk to me, he should be the one who comes to me right?"

"Dude, you are as stubborn as Artie said you were!" Alfred laughed and threw (Name) over his shoulder, carrying her out in ease.

"Put me down this instant you filthy bastard!" (Name) growled and struggled.

"For the record, my parents are married," he chirped. Alfred just ignored the struggles (Name) made and finally put her down when they reached the deck. Alfred pointed at Arthur who was facing the ocean, leaning his elbows on the wooden railing. (Name) reluctantly walked towards Arthur. She didn't say anything though. She just stood there looking at the turquoise ocean as well until Arthur realized that (Name) was beside him.

"You could have said something," Arthur commented.

"Get to the point. What did you call me for?" (Name) said curtly.

"Nothing in particular. I just wanted to talk to you," Arthur shrugged as a small smirk crept up his lips.

(Name) shot a glare at Arthur before turning around.

"Then I'm leaving," she made her way towards the dungeon again.

Arthur quickly grabbed her by arm and pulled her close, their faces inches apart. (Name) kept her face straight even though she felt a funny feeling in her stomach. Arthur swiped something out, which sounded like a knife, making (Name) alert as she automatically tried to wriggle out of Arthur's embrace.

"Don't move," Arthur instructed.

(Name) narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth wanting to headbutt the bastard so much. But before she could do that, she felt her hands being able to move again. Rather than saying thank you, (Name) harshly pushed Arthur away and made an attempt to unsheathe her sword which was obviously not there.

"A thank you would have been lovely," Arthur chuckled. "Apologies I had to take your swords as you may try to kill me if you had it."

"Damn right I would," (Name) grumbled. "What the hell do you want from me? If you want the clue then I will not waste your time. It's not with me."

"I know that, love," Arthur smirked ever so slightly "I am pretty sure your dear friends are fighting hard for it."

"Fighting… hard for it?" (Name) narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"Oh never mind," Arthur waved his hand dismissively.

"Where are we heading to?"

Arthur's smirk got wider. "China," he announced.

'Shit, that's days or weeks… and also… what does he plan to do to me? It won't be easy to kill him myself. I'll have to put my faith in them then…' (Name) bit her lip and clicked her tongue.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked.

(Name) did not say a word and dismissed herself, going back to the cell. When she got into the cell, she curled up on the corner and fell asleep.

* * *

Gilbert slammed the glass of beer on the wooden table, wiping his lips. Nothing but a cold glass of beer could calm him down. He would prefer to stay cool or as he says, stay awesome, at times like this unlike Francis who had not moved a single muscle ever since he got into the ship. He just sat on the chair, elbows resting on the table and his hands supporting his head.

"Francey-pants, you have to calm down," Gilbert said.

"I can't calm down when I know (Name) is in danger," Francis spoke out.

"So you really do think that Arthur would kill (Name)?" Gilbert raised his brows.

"The killing part is unlikely but it does not mean that Arthur would not hurt her."

"I doubt-" the door banged loudly revealing Matthew who was panting heavily.

"Captains! Kiku! He-"

"He's here?!" Gilbert cut in.

Matthew nodded as Gilbert and Francis quickly pushed Matthew out of the way and went outside of (Name)'s cabin. Outside, Kiku had his katana inches away from Lili's neck. He lowered his katana when he heard Gilbert and Francis shouting.

"Ah, about time you both show up," Kiku smiled. "or this poor girl would have died."

"How then hell did you get here?" Gilbert asked warily.

"Do you think I am a ninja who can run on water and jump onto the ship?" Kiku laughed. "I don't like wasting my time and other people's time so… kindly hand over the clue and I will leave… maybe."

"To hell with that!" Gilbert, being the impatient man he was, charged towards Kiku.

* * *

"(Name)! Its dinner time!" (Name) quickly jumped off the couch and ran into the dining room.

She could smell the scent of her favourite food from the kitchen. A wide smile spread across her face when she saw her mother setting the plates on the dining table.

"I made your favourite," (Name)'s mother smiled kindly.

"Yay!" (Name) jumped joyfully and climbed to the chair.

Her mother sat in front of her as (Name) already started to dig in. But she stopped when she heard the door open.

"I'm home!" the voice of (Name)'s father rang out.

When (Name) saw the face of her father, she grinned.

"Welcome home!" she chirped.

"Hey there honey bunch," (Name)'s father chuckled and planted a small kiss on (Name)'s forehead.

Soon enough, the three members of the family were on the dining table eating. (Name) would continuously look at her parents happily. She loved it when the whole family had dinner together. It happens almost everyday but she never got tired of it.

"Mom, dad! You think we can go for a picnic tomorrow?" (Name) asked, full of hope.

"Why of course, (Name). That's a wonderful idea!" (Name)'s mother nodded and smiled "You don't have work tomorrow right, dear?"

"Yes, I don't. It would be-" (Name)'s father was cut by loud bang.

(Name)'s eyes widened in horror as she saw her father's forehead leaked out blood from a hole. (Name) screamed as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"MOM! DAD'S-" (Name) shook when she saw her mother in the same condition.

She fell off the chair and scrambled at her feet, trying to get away from a dark figure that was walking towards her. When the figure held out a gun, (Name) let out a high pitched scream.

(Name)'s eyes shot open as she jerked up, panting heavily. She could feel the tears falling from her eyes. When she had realize it was all just a dream, she noticed that she had been lying on a soft bed. Maybe being captured by Arthur was also a dream…

"Are you alright?" okay, maybe the captured by Arthur part was not a dream.

"Why in the world am I here? Did you bring me here?" (Name) asked rather than answering Arthur.

"Seems like you had a pretty bad nightmare there," Arthur got up from his chair. "Mind telling me?"

"None of your business," (Name) said coldly as she flipped off the blanket.

Her face went red for a while and she shot a glare at Arthur.

"Who told you you could change my clothing?!"

"Calm down, Alice was the one who changed you not me."

"Just leave me alone!" (Name) demanded.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, love."

"Why is that?"

"I was very surprised and still very surprised- or shocked rather, that you don't remember me. It breaks my heart, (Name), it truly does," Arthur put his hand on his chest trying to be dramatic. "Don't you remember the old days where we used to play together? Under the tree?"

'The tree? Used to play together?' Suddenly (Name) felt the familiar pain in her head again. Now she could see the blurred boy clearly, calling her and laughing. It was Arthur. No mistaking it. It was him.

(Name) shifted her gaze to Arthur. Finally a question answered. The boy in her childhood was in front of her all the time and she did not even realize it.

"I remember," (Name) said "Arthur."

Arthur's eyes widened. He pulled (Name) into an embrace, which she didn't return.

'I remember now… but who is he to me?' (Name) asked herself.

* * *

**AN: OMG reader-tan remembered Arthur! Gosh, I was debating to myself if I should do this... But hey, things are more exciting now yes? **

**Reviews:**

**TheAmericanNinja: Yeah, i finished P3P and is now playing the new game plus. I suggest playing P4 Arena? Its more like Tekken but I love it!**

**Dalasport: I try my best! Always! ^^**

**Pk Fizzypopin (guest): Woah... really? Makes me happy :D**

**Hazumi (guest): I will not leave any of my fics unfinished. No matter how long it takes me to update. I will update one day. Just be patient okay?**

**Guess that's what i have to say for now... Oh, yes one more thing! I am now in instagram. But no, I'm not going to post pictures of myself. I will be posting my drawings! And I'm also going to be posting scenes from my fics, yes including this one. It will take sometime but I'm really pumped to draw scenes from this fic! My drawing is not that bad i promise! **

**If you would like to take a peek at my drawings and the scenes from this fic, go to instagram and search m username which is rookieartist and if you don't want to look at my profile, just type in the hashtag #lostmemoriesblackrozen (i know its long) and bam there you go. I just started this so... don't expect me to have a lot of pics... **

**Thats all for today, leave me a review and hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! See you~ mwah!**


	14. The Ugly Truth

Chapter 15

The Ugly Truth

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Hetalia.**

**AN: Hi~ I know, I know... Y U SO LONG NO UPDATE?! right? Well um, I just finished exams last week... so a few days of rest won't hurt right? Oh well anyways, I'm in my holiday now... So I'm happy :) Enjoy this chapter~**

* * *

When (Name) snapped out of her trance, she shoved Arthur violently and gave Arthur her bitterest scowl. Her cheeks were dusted with pink but her face showed complete disgust and annoyance. She dusted her shirt and wordlessly turned on her knees, walking back to the cell before Arthur grabbed her wrist turning her to face him. Arthur's eyes were a full of surprise as his emerald orbs searched for (Name)'s.

"W-wait-"

"Nothing happened. Forget I said anything!" (Name) said curtly and jerked her hand.

"(Name), do you really remember everything?" Arthur said out, barely in a whisper.

"No, I don't," (Name) lied easily and continued to walk away from the blonde Brit.

But to no avail, Arthur pulled (Name) to a hug, wrapping his arms around her as if he was holding something very valuable. Something more valuable than all his treasures. But then again, (Name) always has been the most precious thing he could ever had. (Name) froze as she felt Arthur's warm breath brushing against her neck. Her face was getting redder and redder every second now.

"You're lying…" Arthur muttered and (Name) swore he pulled her closer.

"How would you know?" (Name) snarled and tried to wriggle out of his grip.

"Your hands are cold," Arthur answered, grabbing (Name)'s right hand.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" (Name) clicked her tongue in distaste and jabbed Arthur in the gut with her elbow, sending him cringing in pain. "For the record, I was not lying. I _don't_ remember _everything_. I don't even know who you are. The only thing I know is that your name is Arthur. That's it."

Arthur gaped and stared at (Name)'s back, disappointment quickly rushed through his body. His hopes were shattered to pieces when he heard that. He really thought that she had finally remembered everything even though it was rather unusual that someone could regain all their memories in a snap after they were missing for so long. Arthur can't put up his hopes on that.

(Name) opened the door of the cell and strode in, banging the metal door close. Her mind was a complete mess. The pieces of memories in her head were like puzzle pieces. It was as if she had just solved the corner of the gigantic picture puzzle in her head. So he was Arthur. And he was her childhood friend. Now, it was crystal clear on why he knew her name. But…

"Who the hell is he to me? Is he… someone important?" (Name) muttered to herself, sinking deep into her own thoughts.

A small smile formed on Kiku's lips as he taunted the last opponent of his that was still standing. Antonio chest heaved rapidly as drops of sweat fell from his chin. His face was bloodied and his shape was far from good. The stinging pain that was on his shoulder made it hard for him to swing his axe. And the fact that it was his right shoulder that was injured made it worse. He gritted his teeth as he switched arms. Gripping his axe tightly with his left hand, he braced fro Kiku's attacks.

"Well this is not going to be a fair fight now is it? Hm, I never really fancy unfair fights therefore…" Kiku's smile widen as he switched arms as well. "Now it's just about luck, ne?"

Kiku chuckled a little as he charged. Antonio buckled his leg and prepared for the upcoming attack. His emerald eyes followed Kiku's katana closely. His left arm shifted quickly as Kiku's katana swung, aiming for his left arm. Antonio mamaged to block Kiku's deadly blade. Impressed, Kiku gave in more force as he kept his katana against Antonio's axe.

Kiku grinned when he saw the struggle in Antonio's face. Kiku jumped back and lunged at Antonio, aiming for his side instead. When Antonio blocked it again, Kiku gave him a kick on his jaw, sending Antonio flying back. Kiku walked towards Antonio as the edge of his katana grated against the wooden floor, leaving a trail of his sword on the perfectly made ship of Antonio's.

Antonio's arm struggled to get him back to his feet but his will to not die and kill the man before him beat the pain. He slowly got back up and staggered towards Kiku. Kiku's face showed amusement and sheer joy when he found out that his opponent cold actually still fight. Maybe.

"I'm amazed… you can still stand. Are you sure you want to fight? I could put you out of your misery you know…" he offered nicely like offering his guests some green tea.

Antonio shot a sharp glare at Kiku and growled as he brought his axe up, putting all his energy on his left arm to swing the heavy axe so it could chop the Japanese's head off. Kiku easily dodged it and jabbed his elbow to Antonio's neck, knocking him unconscious.

(Name) was curled up in the corner, just about to fall asleep until she heard the metal door open. She did not bother to sit up and just waited until whoever disturbed her sleep speak up. Or if he or she would ever speak up.

"Um, (Name)?" the familiar voice called out. "Arthur-"

"Tell him to stop being a baby and to get down here by himself," (Name) did not let Alfred finish. "Not everything is served in a silver platter."

"Well, I would love to do say that to him but he didn't order me or anything," Alfred shrugged and crouched down. "Just thought you did something to him. He did not let me in his cabin, and he hasn't give us any orders fro the past three hour or so!"

"It is none of my concern," (Name) grumbled.

"Come on, you have got to-"

"I did nothing to him! Now, if you would please leave? I would really love a nap."

Alfred sighed and got back up.

"Can you just please talk to him? He's never been like that. Not for years at least," Alfred scoffed. "Who knew those feelings still existed in him huh? Just call me if you need me."

And with that, Alfred turned and left (Name) to her own things . When (Name) heard the door close, she stood up and sighed.

'This is pointless but whatever.' She got up on her feet and walked to the end of the cell, wrapping her fingers around the bars.

"Alfred!" she shouted.

Within a second, the door opened revealing the cheerful American.

"I knew you would call," Alfred gave (Name) a wide grin.

"Do you want me to talk to him or not?" (Name) scowled and folded her arms.

"Yes, yes! Of course!" Alfred pulled out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the cell door. "Your hands?"

(Name) rolled her eyes and put up her hands together as Alfred tied them up. He lead her to Arthur cabin and knocked on the door. There was no response.

"Art? Can I come in?" Alfred spoke out loud enough for Arthur to hear.

"No," simple and curt.

"I brought (Name)," Alfred said hoping it would convince him.

"No."

"But-"

"Open this door or I will break it down," (Name) interrupted.

(Name) was ready to kick the door before she heard come shuffling of feet. The door opened as Arthur stared blankly at (Name). (Name) acted as if Arthur was not there at all as she walked into the cabin.

"What makes you think-"

"Oh right, then let me be on my way," (Name) turned around before Arthur stopped her.

"No, wait… just… just stay," Arthur said quietly. "Alfred, if you would mind…" Arthur closed the door in front of Alfred.

(Name) looked around the room and plopped down on Arthur's comfortable and only chair. Arthur felt something in his head that he could not quite tell.

'Is this really (Name)?' he asked himself and looked at (Name) as if she is some kind of pest.

"I would appreciate it if you don't stare at me," (Name) broke the silence.

Arthur blinked and averted his gaze from (Name). He walked over to his bed and sat at the edge.

"So, I assume you wanted to talk to me about something?" A grin formed on Arthur's lips. "What is it that you want, love?"

"Do not call me that or I will slit your throat," (Name) said between her clenched teeth.

"Oh, please spare me!" Arthur held up his hands in a mocking manner causing (Name) to glare at him. "So, what is it?"

(Name) stood silent for a while trying to not throw Arthur with all the questions in her head about himself and what he has to do with (Name). She just kept her eyes locked at Arthur's emerald ones. After debating on what to ask Arthur, she finally decided.

"Pray tell me Arthur, who were you to me?" (Name) asked.

Arthur's eyes widened a little as he chuckled which turned into a laugh.

"You really want to know? Well, I doubt that you will believe me anyway," Arthur raised his brow, smirking.

"I must have be so fond of you at the past…" (Name) mumbled, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"And I thought I was the sarcastic one," Arthur chuckled and looked at (Name) in the eyes. "But you're not wrong, dear (Name). You are in fact indeed right… you were very fond of me…"

(Name)'s eyes widened as she prayed that she won't hear what she thought he was implying.

"I was your lover, was I not?" Arthur's smirk widened ever so slightly as (Name) was left speechless.

* * *

**Reviews:**

**hazumi: I promise to finish this fic! Unless of course... I die or something...**

**Obviosuly Me: I curse myself for liking to procrastinate!**

**AN: Cliffhanger~ Don't kill me! *runs and hides in closet* Ha, I have not been able to do drawings for my fics -3- And now I'm working on my drawing for the competition... *sigh* a great way to keep myself busy even if its holidays huh? **

**Like always, pleas leave a review and I'll see you in the next chapter :D**


	15. Denial

Chapter 15

Denial

**AN: Hello! I'm here with an update~ Pretty fast huh? Well, I wanted to get my work done before I go Japan. And yes I'm going to Japan with Lite-chan tomorrow! Squee~ I'll be gone for a week. Um, I have not finished packing though... Oh well I still got plenty of time! Anyways, let's get on to the story shall we?**

**Warnings: Cursing and showing hatred towards Iggy.**

* * *

(Name) froze as she heard Arthur finish his sentence. The word 'lover' echoed throughout her mind, as if trying to register what Arthur just said. She shook her head and chuckled. She must have misheard him or something.

"Come again?" (Name) said, receiving a devilish grin from Arthur.

"You heard me, love. We were in a special relationship. Or to put it in simple terms lo-"

"NO! I don't want to hear that crap!" (Name) stomped her foot and grabbed Arthur's collar, pulling him down to her eye level. "You stop fucking with me. This ain't a game and that joke wasn't funny, you asshole!"

"You really have changed, my dear (Name). Starting to curse… being rude-"

"Tell me the fucking truth you limey!" (Name) shouted, tightening the grip on the fabric.

"I am telling you the truth," Arthur shrugged and grinned toothily.

(Name) growled and pushed Arthur on the floor, straddling him. She really wanted to grab his sword and slit his throat for all she cared. But if he was to die then, she may have killed someone who was important to her. Or maybe he kept a secret about her that only he knew.

"Stop fooling around, Arthur…. I'm warning you," (Name) said between clenched teeth.

"Oh (Name), and is who's ship do you think you are in?" Arthur laughed and averted his eyes to (Name)'s neck. "And be patient. I know you are impatient but let me explain…"

(Name)'s face flushed a little as she dug her nails on the fabric of Arthur's shirt. Arthur smirked and unbuttoned the first button of (Name)'s dress shirt, grabbing her hand when she was about to slap him across the face.

"Relax. Its just the first button," Arthur pulled out the fragile golden chain, revealing the simple oval pendant (Name) has always been using. "Do you remember this?"

"It's a gift from my parents. Don't touch it," (Name) snatched it away from Arthur hand.

"Ah, I'm glad you still treasure it… and love, that is not from your parents. It is a gift from someone else. A very special gift at that…"

"What are you talking about? Francis said it was from my parents loud and clear," (Name) narrowed her eyes at Arthur.

"That was _my _gift for you on your tenth birthday," Arthur smiled and eyed at the gleaming pendant. "And I have to say, I am very delighted to know you still use it until now."

"Lies… liar… You are lying! I don't believe this madness! These are all lies!" (Name) denied as got off Arthur, backing away slowly.

"And that day… I confessed my love for you and then you fell asleep on my shoulder under a big, old tree…" Arthur said, looking blankly at (Name). "I still remember it like yesterday…."

_Ah, I feel sleepy… His shoulder is so comfortable… maybe a little nap won't hurt…_ (Name) heard her own thoughts in her head. The faint image of someone's face was seen. Another piece of her memory has been found. But where to put it on the big puzzle was still a question.

"No… That can't be true…" (Name) shook her head and looked up at Arthur.

"As much as you don't want it to be true. It's the fact," Arthur sighed and got up.

"No… that was not you…" (Name) muttered.

"Excuse me?" Arthur knitted his brows together and looked at (Name).

"You are lying. Yes, now I remember that it was not my parents who gave me the necklace. But it definitely was not you! I will _never _fall for a bastard like you!"

Arthur felt something jab his chest. He growled and pulled (Name) up, throwing her on the bed. He pinned her down with his powerful strength, glowering at (Name).

"That's the bloody truth! You should be thankful enough I made it easy for you!" Arthur bellowed. "You can't change a fact. You think I ever planned to fall for you? Never! What could I do? I thought giving you something would make you remember me forever. But I guess that wasn't of worth huh?"

"Stop talking like you gave this to me! It was not you and will never will be you!" (Name) threw back bitterly. "Why would I believe in everything you just said? If you were close to me then you should have been with me before I set sail! You think I will believe in some random guy who also tried to kill me?"

"Look, I didn't bloody notice it was you! And I'm a pirate first, lover second so it makes sense if I was not there with you!"

"I'm not stupid, you son of bitch! How the hell do you lie so easily anyways? I absolutely _hate _you!"

Arthur was about to shout out something else before the door flung open, revealing Alfred with a confused and worried face.

"Uh… did I interrupt something?" he asked meekly.

"No, Alfred. In fact, you came at the perfect time," (Name) pushed Arthur and walked towards Alfred. "Now if you'll excuse me Arthur. I would rather stay in the cell and rot there instead of being with you." She spat and walked pass Alfred.

Alfred gave his brother a worried look and smiled wryly.

"I can stay if you want to talk…"

"No. Thank you, Alfred but it isn't important. Just go back to work," Arthur waved his hand dismissively.

Alfred nodded and closed the door. Arthur slumped on the bed as he buried his face in his hands.

"Bloody hell… Why did this have to happen…" he muttered to himself and for the first time in so many years, he felt like crying.

Her words are far more painful than all injuries he has ever gotten from his enemies, be it the strong ones or weak ones.

* * *

It felt like the whole world was rocking back and forth for (Name). It was nighttime now. She could tell, as it was much quieter than it was during the day when the crew was all busy.

'Its probably around 2 AM now. But I will not let my guard down.' (Name) thought with closed eyes.

When she heard the cell door creak open softly, she stood silent, waiting for the intruder to come closer. Once the footsteps were loud enough, she swiftly swung her arms, hitting whoever was approaching her. She got up on her knees and threw her defensive pose.

"That was not necessary, (Name)!" the albino cried out, rubbing hid reddened cheek. "You're making my injuries worse…."

"Gilbert? Oh, please forgive me!" (Name) said in a hushed tone. "Why are you so severely injured? You even broke your arm! What happened while I was gone?"

"Long story, frau. I'll tell you when we get back. Now, we have to hurry!" Gilbert motioned (Name) to follow him.

The both managed to escape the ship and returned to (Name)'s ship. Matthew was looking at (Name) for any injuries where he, himself was all patched up and wrapped with bandages.

"I'm alright Matthew… More importantly, what happened when I was gone? Why is my ship damaged like this?" (Name) asked, looking around.

"Uh, I think if you go to your cabin, you'll get the answer…" Gilbert muttered.

(Name) gave him a skeptical look before walking to her cabin and upon entering the room, her eyes widened as she prepared to fight. The Japanese man perked up. He was not in a good a very good shape as well. He had his head bandaged and his arm wrapped with blood soaked bandage. His face was covered with nasty blue bruises.

"What are you doing here?!" (Name) growled.

"Calm down, (Name)-san. I will not do any harm to you. Let's just talk this time shall we? I'll explain what you have been missing," Kiku smiled and motioned (Name) to sit beside him on the bed.

(Name) walked towards the Japanese man cautiously. Kiku laughed and unsheathed his katana making (Name) clench her fist and quickly brought them up. Kiku placed the tip of his katana on his neck.

"Here hold this. If I try to harm you, then kill me," (Name) warily grabbed the sword and sat down. "Now, let me tell you about the offer I have proposed your friends with, which they agreed on. Now all that's left is you. Under some circumstances, it seems that I won't be able to retrieve the treasure myself; especially with Kirkland running around. Your friends have told me that your only goal is to kill Kirkland, yes?"

"Are you saying I must help you?" (Name) raised a brow.

"Ah, I would prefer to say help each other. I'll help you kill him and you help me get the treasure and we both will be at good terms yes?"

(Name) narrowed her eyes, taking her time to think everything over and over again. This man was absolutely dangerous. Now she knew why the whole crew was badly injured like that. Having Kiku as an enemy would definitely put them in danger and will slow them down. But at the same time, could she really trust this man? Besides, she wanted to Kirkland with her own hands.

After weighing the pros and cons, she decided it would be better if her crew were not harmed. She just made a mental note to keep a close eye on Kiku in case he tried something.

"Fine. We have a deal. One wrong move and I'll put this through your chest," (Name) dropped the katana and stood up, walking to the door. "I'll be on Francis's ship if you need me."

Kiku just smiled and nodded as (Name) closed the door behind her.

"Matthew," she called out.

"Yes, captain?" Matthew came instantly.

"Keep a very close eye on Kiku. Do not leave him out of your sight. If he does anything suspicious, report to me or the three boys. If he attacks, do not hesitate to attack back. Kill him if you need to. Do you understand this instruction?"

"Yes, captain!" Matthew nodded and went to her cabin.

(Name) strode to the deck and went to Francis ship to check on him. Francis was not any better than Gilbert. He had a deep wound on his side and the bandages went around his head, covering one eye. His nose appeared to be broken as it was black-blue and was slightly crooked in shape.

"You didn't lose an eye did you?" (Name) asked, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Luckily non… But it will take some time to heal…" Francis sighed "Je suis désolé… he was strong."

"Its alright. I understand. I can see myself in your position if I was there as well. I should be the one apologizing since I was not there to help."

"Oui, you could be a really big help," Francis chuckled. "Did Arthur do anything to you?"

"No," (Name) shook her head. "But he did say some disturbing and foolish things like that he gave me this necklace and that he and I were in a special relationship… Its not true right? I have something to ask you again though. And this time, I want the truth. Who gave me this necklace?"

"I told you it was your parents…"

"No. I remembered it wasn't my parents! It was someone else! I don't know who but it was someone. Tell me, Francis, who was it?"

"(Name), ma Cherie… can we discuss this in the morning? I feel really exhausted and I need to rest…" Francis pleaded.

(Name) fought herself back from forcing Francis to speak up. But feeling guilty for not being there to fight along side with them, she nodded and got up.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave you to rest," (Name) excused herself and left.

Francis waited for a couple of minutes until he was sure that (Name) has gone back to her own ship before he got up, wincing a little at the pain from his fresh injuries and went out, ordering two of his crewmates to go get Gilbert and Antonio.

When the two had come, the three gathered in Francis's cabin.

"So, what did you call us for? I was sleeping, just so you know," Gilbert grumbled.

"It's about (Name)…"

"What about her?" Antonio asked sleepily.

"Arthur told her about himself. And who he was to her in the past."

Gilbert and Antonio widened their eyes.

"D-did she believed him?" Gilbert asked worriedly.

"Non…. I don't think so. And then he also told her that he was the one who gave her the necklace. She also asked me who really gave the necklace to her. She remembered. She knew it was not her parents," Francis explained. "I promised her that we will discuss this matter in the morning."

The room became silent for a while as the three boys were thinking hard about their decision. They knew what Francis was asking. Should they tell (Name) the truth or lie to her again?

"Have you made up your minds?" Francis said after a few moments of silence.

"I think we should tell her the truth," Antonio said.

"Nein. She will have a mental breakdown," Gilbert opposed. "I say we lie to her again until the time is right."

"Its never the right time! Do you want to lie to her forever? Do you want to keep her from the truth until she dies?" Antonio snapped.

"O-of course no, but now is really not the time, Toni! Its bad enough they tried to kill one another and now you want to tell her the person who tried to kill her was her ex-boyfriend?! Besides, what will you do if she finds out his last name?" Gilbert snapped back.

"I have to agree with Gilbert… but soon enough… I believe, without us telling her, she will remember. She is remembering things pretty quickly thanks to that blasted Brit. But what I fear most is she goes back to Arthur. It will not end well if she finds out he is a Kirkland," Francis inquired. "For the mean time, it's best if she doesn't know."

Antonio gritted his teeth and looked down. He had to admit, if he was going to really think it through, (Name) would either deny the truth or she would be forced to take it in and would potentially have a mental breakdown. But if they were the ones who said it, she would most probably believe them no matter how much she claimed she denies it.

"Fine. But this means one of us has to take the role as Arthur for a while," Antonio said.

The other two nodded and looked at each other. When she finds out the truth, they would receive a severe punishment for sure but it was better than breaking her.

* * *

**AN: And thats the end of this chapter! Been a while since I wrote 2K+ huh? Its holidays so I have way more time to spend~ Anyways, I want you guys to tell me who you want to fulfill the role for Arthur! Francis, Gilbert or Antonio. The most wanted will be the guy! If no one votes then, I shall pick him myself. Because I dont want you guys to say: "Oh i dont really like this guy! Why didnt you pick him instead?" So... VOTE! If its a draw then I'll ask Lite-chan to pick.**

**Reviews:**

**jackcay101: Worry not! Your absolutely kawaii pout has made me update faster!**

**immapotato99: Uhuh, in my opinion, without cliffhangers, my readers won't be as excited for the next chapter. Trust me, a lot of people hate my guts too. And thank you~**

**Kie Quies: Nope he didnt! Dont worry!**

**Guess thats all for now. Um, to be honest, I this was not as I planned. Just did brainstorming with Lite-chan and found out this is a better way for the plot flow. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'll see you in the next chapter~ Stay awesome :)**


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